Not Yours
by Taylor King
Summary: Set post finale/Marian's return, Regina learns that she's pregnant. How do you have, and raise, your soulmate's baby without him? Rated M for future!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hello! So after weeks of reading other awesome fiction, and after Sunday's…finale…I decided to jump into the fiction game myself. This chapter is shorter, but I promise future ones will be longer. Also, the later chapters will be more interesting so I wanted to just dive right into things. Enjoy!**

Regina was not surprised when Snow walked into her office. She had been expecting it for some time now, and was more surprised it had taken this long.

She'd been sick for at least a month now. That was obvious. She was pale, with dark circles the color of her hair rimming both eyes. Sometimes, just thinking about the smell of certain foods made her nauseous. Eating most anything was almost completely out of the question.

At first, she'd thought it was stress. The events with Zelena, coupled with Robin, had finally caught up with her. It was to be expected that she would have suffered some sort physical symptom. But a day had become two, and then become a week, which had turned into two. Now she was sure it was some sort of super bug, one of those ones the news always talked about getting worse and mutating. Eventually, it would pass. It _had_ to.

"You don't look good, but you don't look surprised to see me." Snow said, sitting down on the other side of her desk. Regina rubbed her temples, attempting to lessen the headache that was pulsing behind them.

"I figured that Henry had mentioned I'd been ill." Snow nodded. Her look was a combination of concern and curiosity.

"How long has it been?" Regina could feel her taking in her appearance.

"A few weeks…a month." She shrugged, glancing up to meet Snow's eyes. "Why do you care anyway?"

"Because Henry's concerned about his mother…and because technically you're my stepmother." She muttered the last part as an afterthought. "And I thought I might have the best chance of getting you to talk to me."

She was right. Regina would have thrown Emma out-no questions. The two of them had managed to be civil for Henry's sake, but civil was a chore. Anger seemed to have been set at simmer just under her skin since that night at Granny's. There were times it threatened to boil over, and Regina found herself biting her tongue to keep from screaming at, or cursing, her son's biological mother. It was why she'd taken to keeping mostly to herself, avoiding as many of the general Storybrooke population as possible.

"Have you seen a doctor?" Snow was asking. Regina shook her head no.

"It's some sort of stomach bug. I don't think I've eaten anything substantial in a week." Not that she was hungry. Just thinking of the concept made her stomach roll. Snow was silent for a moment. Then a look of realization hit her features.

"Regina….?"

"What?"

"Did you and Robin…?" Snow let her words trail off, her eyes finishing the question.

"I'm really not having this conversation with you." Regina leaned back in her desk chair.

"No, it's not-. Could you be…pregnant?"

The realization swept her in a wave. How had she not considered this possibility? Yes, actually, she _could_ be pregnant. But replaying any part of her all be it brief relationship with Robin was hard, especially the one and only time they'd been intimate. She'd put it to the back of her mind, not imagining that something might have come out of it.

"You could be. You might be pregnant." The shock on Snow White's face was almost amusing. "Regina, you need to find out. You have to take a test."

She did have to do something-and she had to do it right now. But actually going and buying a pregnancy test was out of the question. As soon as someone saw her with it, the rumors would fly all over town in under an hour. No, that was not an option.

"I'm not taking a test." Regina got up from her desk and grabbed her purse. Snow gave her a frustrated sigh.

"Regina, you have to know."

"I said I wasn't taking a test, not that I wasn't going to find out." Regina called over her shoulder.

The look on Dr. Whale's face was even more priceless than Snow's.

"You think you might be pregnant?" He repeated, his pen frozen over the note pad in his other hand.

Regina nodded as calmly as she could. Her brain wanted to scream at him.

"I think it's very possible. I'm sick all the time, I can't eat. I'm exhausted." Now his look changed to acceptance.

"That does sound like one possible cause. Do you remember the date of your last period?"

She had no idea. With everything else that had happened, she'd forgotten about noticing them.

"I don't know." Whale handed her a calendar. Regina flipped through it for a few months, running a few mental calculations. She pointed to a Saturday in February. "There."

Dr. Whale took the calendar back from her, looking at the date.

"Well, you're either pregnant or there is something wrong."

"Thank you for that comforting thought." Regina glared at him. He held out his hand apologetically.

"We'll run a pregnancy test and get some blood work. If you are, the blood work will confirm it. If you're not, the blood work will give us an indication of what else it could be."

A half an hour later, she as back in the exam room, running a hand lightly over her stomach. If she was pregnant, she felt no indication of another life growing in her. So maybe she wasn't, or was it too early? And if she wasn't, what was wrong? She'd never thought much about pregnancy because actually getting pregnant had never been an option. And the last time she'd had sex, pregnancy had never crossed her mind. It certainly hadn't crossed his. Contraception wasn't big in the Enchanted Forest.

Dr. Whale entered the room, breaking her thoughts.

"Well?" He appeared momentarily speechless, apparently considering how to word his next statement.

"Congratulations?"

"I am?" The sound of her voice was all wrong. It had softened too much. It was too sweet, too happy.

"You are."

"How far?"

"About four and a half months, going off of the date you gave me. If you want, we can schedule you later for some further testing and get an exact time frame."

"So it'll be due….January?"

"About there. Mid to late I'd say."

Regina closed her eyes. She was pregnant. With her own baby. One that no other mother could take away, one that she wouldn't have to share. Except of course for-.

She put Robin back out of her mind. She made up her mind right here, right now, that she was not telling him. Out of the whole mess, he had gotten his happy ending. And while this wasn't the happy ending she'd been expecting, it was one she would gladly take.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you everyone for your interest in this story! I'm so glad others are jumping on the storyline! I promise the future chapters are going to get longer. Beware of the mature content lurking just slightly below.**

Regina let herself into the house with her head swimming. She'd already texted the Charmings to bring Henry home, but she knew there was still time.

There were so many thoughts, decisions, plans. Boy? Girl? Find out? Wait? If you didn't find out, how to decorate the nursery? Just pick some random theme and leave it to chance? She shuddered at the thought.

Regina leaned against the living room doorway and closed her eyes. It hadn't been the ideal way to conceive a child, but it had happened.

_He was kissing her, his hands sweeping over her. Things were progressing rapidly. Her brain was trying to decide if it was right, if now was right, if they should-. _

_One hand was unzipping the back of her dress, dragging it down her shoulder. _

"_Are you sure?" She broke the kiss to whisper. "Now? We could wait until tonight." _

_The zipper was almost completely down. _

"_I've waited long enough." He told her as he slid the dress down her arms. "Besides, this way we'll both have something to remind us what we'll be coming home to."_

_Regina gave in, sealed her mouth over his. His hand went into her bra, pulling it down, freeing one breast. Regina shifted, pushed the strap down her shoulder, reached back and unhooked it. Robin's lips left hers to latch over her left nipple. She closed her eyes, groaning as she held his head against her. Robin shoved the garment away and turned his attention to the opposite breast. He repeated his action while all the time kneading the left._

"_You're beautiful." He raised his lips to press soft kisses against her throat. His breath was warm on her skin. _

"_You're not so bad either." She smiled softly, reaching over to undo the buttons on his shirt. He shrugged it off, closed his eyes as her hands caressed his chest. But when her hand slid towards his belt buckle, he intercepted it. _

"_Wait." He leaned in and kissed her lips gently. _

"_I thought we just talked about not waiting." He eased her onto her back, pulling her dress down her over her hips. Regina kicked her shoes off and he removed the dress entirely. _

"_Just a little longer." He shifted his weight fully on top of her. His hand was caressing her hip, her upper thigh. She could feel his hardness pressed against her through the remaining fabric between then. Then he slid his hand over her stomach to the silky fabric of her underwear. She had to have drawn a breath she didn't remember taking because Robin chuckled. _

"_Do you want me to?" _

"_Yes." She pressed against him. _

_He didn't need further encouragement. His hand went under the fabric, stroked the heat and wetness he found beneath. His tongue slid into her mouth in the same moment his finger slid into her. She moaned against him, pressing her hips against his hand. _

_He stopped, hooked his fingers under the waistband of her underwear and pulled them fully away. This time, Regina pushed him off of her. She unbuckled his belt. The button and zipper came undone. She pulled them open, reached inside and freed his length. He closed his eyes, pressed his face into her shoulder. _

"_Now." He whispered, pushing her to lie back again before pulling away to remove his remaining attire. _

_He was intentionally distracting her with kisses when she felt the tip of him just inside of her. Regina groaned and Robin pulled his head back to study her face as he pushed slowly into her. _

"_Yes?" He was all the way inside, remaining perfectly still. Regina savored the feeling, knowing there was no way she could ever reclaim the sensation of their first time. _

"_Perfect." She pushed up against him and they both moaned. _

_ She clung to him as he began a slow, steady rhythm. Her nails dug into his shoulders. Her eyes closed. He was groaning softly in her ear. His fingers drifted between them. Stroked. Rubbed. It made her cry out and tighten her fingers into his hair. _

_ The sensations built, and built, until Regina thought she would explode. Her vision blurred, muscles tightened around him. She vaguely remembered hearing him cry out as he came, pushing himself deeper into her. _

It had all seemed so ordinary. Not the sex itself, that had been incredible, but the fact that it had been the normal sexual routines that had happened before with no results. This time, something had changed. Somehow inside of her had clicked.

Regina turned to the mirror in the entryway and studied her reflection. She didn't think she looked pregnant. Her clothes fit as they normally did. But was she missing something? Was there something there she should have caught a month before?

The front door clicked open, and Henry let himself in followed by both Charmings.

"Mom!"

"Hi sweetheart." She leaned down and kissed the top of his head as he embraced her and stepped back. He studied her, looking her over.

"You're not as pale. Do you feel better?"

"I do, actually. I went to the doctor's this afternoon, and he said it will pass on its own." She looked over at Snow. Her eyebrows raised questioningly. Regina tapped Henry's shoulder.

"I left some laundry upstairs for you. Run up and put it away?"

"Sure." When he was up the stairs, and successfully in his room, Regina motioned the Charmings to follow her into the kitchen.

"So you are?" Snow asked. Her voice held a note of someone who was trying to hide excitement under unnatural calm. Regina was already annoyed.

"I am." She leaned against the counter. "About four months."

"That's wonderful!" And Snow was hugging her briefly before stepping back, her face lighting up.

"That is good news." David looked a combination of surprised and pleased, but less enthusiastic than his wife. "Yours will be just a little younger than Neal."

She hadn't thought about that. She wasn't sure how she felt about her child growing up playing with Snow White and Prince Charming's son. The concept would take some getting used to.

"I suppose so." Regina nodded. Her head was still spinning. "There's just so much to think about right now. "

"Don't push yourself." David warned her. "There's plenty of time. But just to confirm, Robin is the-."

"David!" Snow stared at him. Regina waved her hand.

"It's fine. Yes, it's his. But he doesn't need to know that."

There was silence in the kitchen for a moment.

"I kind of think he does." David finally countered. Snow closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Listen to me," Regina told them both, "this is my child, and I'm going to do this my way. Robin has a family of his own. He does not need this….complicating things."

David looked like he wanted to argue. Snow stepped in more quickly.

"We won't say a word. Will we?" David glanced from Regina, to Snow, and finally nodded.

"No, we won't."

"And do me a favor and make sure your daughter doesn't either." The anger boiled over momentarily and Regina calmed it down. There were more important things to think about now. But the fact that her baby didn't have a father because of Emma made it rise again.

"We'll tell her. You don't have to worry about that." Snow told her. "When are you going to tell Henry?"

"Tonight, over dinner. There's no point in waiting. He's old enough to know."

"I think he'll be excited." Snow smiled. "He loves Neal, and he's good with him. I think he'll be a lot of help."

Regina smiled at the thought. Henry would do well with his little sibling. However, the baby would have another brother it would never know. The thought saddened her. Roland was such a sweet little boy. But he'd never know, never have any knowledge of his sibling.

"I need to talk to you about something." Regina was seated across the table from Henry. A pizza box was open on the table between them. A small slice was on the plate in front of her, untouched. It wasn't as much the smell as it was the thought of the grease that was turning her stomach.

Henry stopped eating and looked suspicious.

"Is this about my mom?"

"No, no. This isn't about her at all." She touched his hand gently and he relaxed. Smiled.

"Oh. So what's up?"

"Well," Regina began carefully, "how would you like to have a little brother or sister?"

"Are you thinking of adopting again?" Henry asked. Regina smiled.

"No, not adopting." Henry thought for a moment, and then looked surprised.

"Are you pregnant?"

"Yes. That's why I've been so sick." He was silent for a moment, scooped a bit of cheese up with his fork.

"I think that's cool."

"Really?" Regina pushed her plate away. She'd try again later with something else. If she was judging this by foods the baby didn't like, it would apparently never eat. "It doesn't bother you?"

"No, I really think it's cool. It'll be fun. Will it be here for Christmas?" Regina shook her head.

"It will miss Christmas by a little while."

"Are you going to find out what it is?"

"I haven't decided yet." He really was excited. It was a relief. But he was old enough not to get too jealous.

"Which bedroom does it get?"

"We'll have to look at that, won't we? Maybe after dinner?" He nodded. "Henry, I'm glad you're excited about this." Henry smiled.

"Remember when you told me a few months ago that some day I'd have more family than I knew what to do with?" Regina smiled and rested her chin in her hand.

"Yes."

"You were right: two moms, grandparents, a new uncle, and now a little brother or sister. It's definitely cool."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello hello! First of all, it excites me to see how many people are following/favoriting/reviewing this story. I hope you enjoy it. As for this chapter…ugh. I could work on it for another 6 months and it wouldn't turn out any better. But it needed to happen. I promise the later chapters will be both longer and much more interesting. So anyhoo-enjoy!**

2 months later-

Regina spent most of her nights dreaming about holding her baby. Some nights it was a boy, others it was a girl. Some nights it had a name she would never consider in a thousand years; some nights she woke up willing herself to remember that name because it was better than anything that ever came to her awake.

She'd flipped through dream journals. Some said it was a dream of a new beginning, or a new start. Others said it was just a pregnant woman's anticipation. To Regina, it was both.

She'd reached the point where if people didn't know she was pregnant, her appearance made them question whether she was or was not. Most of the time, they asked. But she watched more than a few walk away with an extremely perplexed look on their faces.

It was a surprising twist that most of the Storybrooke residents were all right when they did find out. Regina suspected it was because they knew how complicated the situation actually was. No one ever questioned who the father was, because they knew. Everyone did. There was no point in dredging up the past. Nonetheless, she was pleased when people congratulated her, asked when she was due, and the other basic questions.

Did she know the gender? (She did not.)

Did she want to? (She did not.)

Either way, had she decided on a name? (She had not.)

Had she picked a nursery theme? (She had not.)

"Girl." Granny told her, as she was sitting at the counter one morning waiting on coffee to brew. Regina raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"Girl?"

"You're carrying like it's a girl. And they say girls steal your beauty, and you've looked exhausted for the last four months."

Regina rolled her eyes.

"Thanks. I think. Is the coffee done yet?"

"In a minute. It takes time to brew fresh decaf."

"You know I don't drink decaf." Granny shrugged and turned back towards the kitchen.

"You do for the next three months."

Regina rested her chin in her hand while idly passing the fingers of her right hand over her stomach. The baby wasn't moving. Of course it was sleeping now. She had nothing to do at the moment. If she tried to do anything with any importance, like sleep, it would be out of control.

Granny put the to go cup on the counter in front of her. Regina immediately noticed that the older woman was watching over Regina's shoulder. Curiosity got the best of her, and Regina turned to see just what it was that was so interesting.

Robin and Little John had just walked in.

Regina groaned almost involuntarily. She'd seen Robin around town the last few months, of course. But this was the first time he'd really be able to see that she was pregnant. Her dress was a faux wrap maternity style, meant to emphasize the belly. There was no mistaking it.

There was no way to avoid him. She was certainly not going to stay here for the risk Marian would decide to join him. Robin finding out in public was one thing, Marian figuring it out was entirely another. They'd both undoubtedly heard the rumors, no need to lay the proof completely out on the table.

Regina ignored him as she crossed to the door-save for watching out of the corner of one eye. Little John had a look of confusion on his face. Robin's was wide-eyed shock.

She didn't have to wait long to find out when he'd turn up. He showed up at her office within an hour. As he pushed the door open, Regina glanced up over the coffee she hadn't yet finished.

"It's called knocking. I know they don't do it in the forest, but we try it here in civilization."

"Is there something you want to tell me?" He ignored her statement and stared at her. Regina shook her head.

"I can't think of anything."

"You're pregnant!"

"Congratulations. You figured it out like everyone else in town."

"Do you think I haven't figured out its mine?" Robin's eyes went from her, to her belly. Regina felt like her heart was twisting. She wanted nothing more than to tell him, to have him celebrate with her. But admitting it would do nothing but create another problem. Regina was certain Marian would be less than thrilled that her husband was expecting a baby with the Evil Queen.

And for that matter, Regina didn't want her baby to have another family. If her baby was going to have an ideal one, she wanted only Robin, Henry, and Roland. Stepmothers need not apply. Regina was dead set that she and Henry would be the only family this child needed.

"I don't know what you think you figured out, but you're wrong." Regina crossed her hands over her stomach. The baby was awake now. It was distracting to her. The raised voices had it responding.

"Do you think I don't know you well enough to know that you, of all people, would never jump into bed with someone let alone accidently get pregnant?"

Regina bit her tongue. That was rather what had happened, but she thought the person she'd gone to bed with was going to be with her forever.

"You know nothing about me." Regina responded, keeping her tone from shaking while holding his eyes. She done a lot of lying and intimidating in the Enchanted Forest, but this was the hardest she'd ever done.

"I think I do. When are you due?"

"That's none of your business."

"It's none of my business, or you don't want me to do the calculations and figure out when the baby was conceived?"

Regina flipped the notebook on her desk closed. She was determined not to give. Robin had his family. She just wanted one thing that wasn't owed to someone else, that someone else wasn't always trying to take from her.

"Listen to me very carefully," she held his eyes. "This baby is _not yours._ I am _not yours. _This entire situation is _none_ of your business, and you should not be here right now. I doubt your wife would be pleased to find you alone with an unmarried pregnant woman."

Robin's jaw tensed and his hands clenched. She wished things could be different. Wished she could go back in time and change what had happened. If Marian was still dead, they wouldn't be here now. This conversation wouldn't be taking place.

_Two happy endings destroyed. Good job, Emma Swan. _

She expected Robin to keep fighting, keep arguing with her. Did she want him to? She wouldn't let herself answer that, for fear of what the answer might turn out to be.

Instead he took a deep breath, turned towards the door, and then turned back to her.

"This isn't fair, Regina. This isn't fair at all."

And then he was crossing the room and gone, closing the door behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks everyone for your awesome reviews on the last chapter. And I promise-there will be a happy ending, but we can't get there w/out a good bit more angst, can we?**

That night, Regina was sitting in the den staring at her computer screen. She was accomplishing absolutely nothing. Her thoughts kept drifting back to her morning conversation with Robin.

One of her hands almost always rested instinctively on her belly. Under her palm, the baby moved. Regina rubbed it gently

"I'm tired, so get it out of your system now." Another movement, but much slower than it had been all day. Clearly it had worn itself out.

"Mom?" Henry appeared in the doorway. "Are you busy?"

"Not at all." Regina closed her computer screen, smiled. "What is it?"

He entered the room, coming to lean against the side of her desk. He was wearing a serious Henry expression. Regina was curious. Knowing him, that could mean a deep conversation was in store.

"Did you not tell Robin Hood about the baby?" Regina sighed heavily. And there was the deep conversation.

"Who did you hear talking about this?" Henry looked slightly sheepish.

"Grandma. Grandpa. Mom."

"Of course." Regina rolled her eyes. She was going to have to remind the entire Charming family what was appropriate conversation when a 12 year old was nearby.

"They thought I was in the shower. Mom and Grandpa think he has a right to know, Grandma says they should stay out of it."

"Mary Margaret is right." Regina told him. "And I'm not having this conversation with you."

"But Mom-." Regina turned the computer back on.

"Henry. No. We're not discussing this."

"Ok, fine." He shrugged and started towards the doorway. When he reached it, he paused. "But Mom-."

"Henry."

"Just one thing-I grew up not knowing who my dad was. It was hard. I just don't want that for my little brother." Regina looked up, smiled.

"Your little brother?"

"Well, it could be, right?"

"Do you want a little brother?" Henry had apparently put thought into it.

"I wouldn't mind it. Little sisters take a lot of effort. They need protecting basically forever." Regina chuckled. It was good to see him already taking so much interest. But he was old enough-almost a teenager. And he was such a family centric boy already.

"You get that we're passed the point of getting a choice, right?"

"Mom, I know how all that works." Henry gave her a look of momentary horror, and then disappeared into the hallway. She heard his footsteps going upstairs.

Regina began skimming through nursery images on the computer. She still wasn't getting anything done. Only this time, her mind began drifting back to her conversation with Henry.

Was he right? Did she need to tell this baby so that it didn't resent her in fifteen years? Regina knew that even with the best of intentions, this child may not receive them that way. She could not possibly handle the rebellion of another child, have another child who was seeking out another family. What if she held back the information, and her child grew up to seek out Robin on it's own? What if he or she decided they preferred Robin and Marian to her?

Regina shuddered at the thought. She was getting herself worked up for no reason. The baby wasn't even born yet, so there was no reason to panic over how it would act in fifteen years.

"Are you asleep?" Regina passed her knuckles against her abdomen. "You go to bed entirely too early." She sighed, looking down at how pregnant she was beginning to look. "What do you think? Do we need to tell your daddy?"

Telling was one thing, seeing was another. She felt obligated to tell Robin, but she still didn't want him in this child's life.

The next morning, Regina made her way through the park and the woods to where Robin's camp was located. One of the men glanced up, called to Robin, nodded in her direction. He put down what he'd been carrying and made his way over to her.

"Well, this is a surprise."

"Can we talk?"

"I think we need to." Robin nodded back the way she'd come, towards town. "Is it…safe for you to be out here in your…condition?"

"Please, I'm fine. The baby isn't due for a few more months."

They walked a little ways away from camp. The birds were chirping around them. Regina had woken up nauseous but felt better in the fresh air.

"So," she stopped, turned to face him, "you were not wrong yesterday. This….is…your baby." Robin chuckled softly.

"I knew that."

"Of course you did." Regina sighed. "Look, I'm only here because I had a conversation with Henry last night, and he told me how hard it was for him not knowing who his real family was. You have a family to think about. This was never supposed to happen."

"But it did happen." Robin looked her over. "It did happen. You can't just expect me to ignore it."

"Yes I do." Regina held his eyes intently. "I do want you to just ignore it. Focus on your life with Marian, and Roland. Just leave us," she ran her hand over her belly, "alone."

Robin closed his eyes. Regina watched his jaw muscles tighten and relax.

"You want me to just ignore you, and my child, every time I see you in town?" Regina nodded.

"Yes. That's exactly what I want. Robin please, don't make this harder on both of us."

"Is this what you really want?" Robin asked her gently. His eyes were the man she'd fallen in love with, and they were breaking her heart.

"No." Regina whispered, shaking her head. Tears threatened to fill her eyes and she blinked them back. "What I want, I can't have. This is the next best thing."

"So what am I supposed to do? Be content to only see my child at town functions?"

"Yes," Regina sighed heavily, "I'm sorry, Robin. But that's the closest you can come to this child.

"Regina, you know how much I love my son. How can you expect me to not feel that way about my next son? Or my daughter for that matter?"

Regina stared at him. She wanted him to see her own pain, the grief this was bringing her. This was all so wrong. Entirely wrong.

It must have worked, because Robin took a deep breath. Let it out slowly.

"Fine. If this is truly how you want it….."

"How would Marian want it? Or Roland?" That seemed to do the trick. A look of acceptance settled onto his face. He still didn't look pleased, but he at least appeared to have accepted things as they were.

"Is everything ok? I mean, you're healthy, it's healthy?"

"Everything's fine." Regina assured him.

"And you don't know what it is?"

"No idea. And I don't intend to find out." She laughed. "I take it that your men know?"

"Yeah, they do." Robin nodded, glancing in the direction of the camp. "Marian knows nothing. She knows nothing happened between us."

That hurt. But what had Regina expected? In truth, it was better that way. Her eyes wandered towards the camp again.

"You should be getting back."

"You're right, I should." Robin agreed, his gaze following hers. "Marian's out with Roland now, but…. Regina, if you need anything-. If something happens, and you need protection, if the baby needs protection, do not hesitate to find me."

"I won't." She promised. It was all she could do. He'd been such a help battling against Zelena. It had crossed her mind many times if she'd been pregnant then, she surely would have lost her baby.

"Good. Good." Robin's eyes drifted back towards the camp.

"Go." Regina jerked her head towards it.

"All right." Robin looked at her for a long moment. His expression was unreadable. Her mouth twitched in half a smile, and then she turned and started back the way she'd come.

Halfway there, the baby woke up. Regina smiled and laid her hand over it. For a moment, she thought about attempting to cast her own time travel spell, to go back and fix everything. But then she reminded herself that dangerous magic not only affected her, but the baby as well.

No, there would be no more dangerous magic for her for a long, long time.

**A/N: Spoiler alert-baby in the next chapter. And then things get really interesting! **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Every time I get a new follow/review/favorite it cheers up my day that much more! So glad people are reading and enjoying. I promised we'd hit longer chaps, so gear up! We're just getting started **

3 months later-

She'd woken up with the first contraction around 5A.M. For a moment, Regina just lay in bed wondering what exactly she should do. One contraction didn't mean labor. If it did, it didn't mean immediate labor. It was her first child, it would take awhile.

When nothing else happened in an hour, Regina gave up waiting and got up.

She'd read about nesting. About some of the things women did as they got closer to giving birth, but she didn't realize she was doing it until she caught herself pulling glasses out of the kitchen cabinets and washing them by hand.

Snow and Charming had been stopping in once a day to check on her. Snow was convinced that Regina was stubborn enough to have her baby at home, alone, just because she refused to call them for help.

"How are you?" Snow asked as she entered the foyer.

"Actually…" The look on Regina's face made the other woman stop. "I think I might be in labor."

"What makes you think that?" Regina did not have a history of being a hypochondriac, so if she was suspecting it enough to mention it then it was probably happening.

"I've been having contractions on and off for most of the day and…they're getting more and more regular."

"Did your water break?"

"No. If it had, don't you think I would have known I was in labor?"

"Ok, Regina, I'm not fighting with you over this. You're going to the hospital."

The more frightening concern was that Regina didn't argue with either of them. Both had been expecting more of a fight when this time came. But Regina merely got her things, and let David drive her car. In the front seat, she simply stared out the window, one hand pressed against her abdomen.

"So this is it?" Regina asked. She was half terrified, half anxious. She couldn't decide which one was winning out.

"This is it." Dr. Whale told her. "Hopefully your water will break on its own, if not, we'll do it." Regina shuddered. "Don't worry, it's very simple."

They didn't have to worry about it. Her water broke half an hour later one its own.

Regina had been set on doing this on her own-completely. Snow had offered-multiple times-to stay with her through the whole delivery, but Regina insisted.

"My offer still stands." Snow had sent David away, but was still sitting beside the bed. The contractions were getting closer and closer together. "You don't have to do this alone."

"I know I don't, but I want to." Regina's eyes followed another contraction on the monitor. "Hell." She closed her eyes, breathing deeply through the pain. "I have no idea how you did this-twice-through the threat of impending danger."

"It wasn't easy, either time." Snow laid her hand on Regina's arm. She rubbed gently until the contraction passed.

"If I had anything else on my mind right now, I think I'd give up and it could stay right where it was." Regina fell back on the bed, closed her eyes.

"That's not an option-which is good and bad. Regina, are you _sure_ you don't want me to stay? Labor is one thing, actually giving birth is another and it can be…scary."

"I'll be fine." Regina wrapped her arm over her stomach, looking at the monitor. "Damn." Snow followed her eyes, nodded, and got up.

"I'm going to get Dr. Whale. I think you're almost ready."

"I hope so." Regina hissed, biting her lower lip as the contraction passed. "Mm, is it too late for a caesarean?"

"Only if you or the baby is in distress." Dr. Whale was checking her vital signs.

"Regina, last chance." Snow stood in the doorway. "I'll stay with you. Just say the word."

"No," Regina shook her head adamantly. "I'm doing this-." She broke off into gasp as another contraction hit.

"Ok, if you're not staying, you're going to have to go, Mary Margaret." Dr. Whale motioned to the nurse who had just entered. "Close the door and we'll get started."

"Good luck, Regina." Snow waved from the doorway as the door closed.

Regina shut her eyes as Dr. Whale exchanged a few murmured words. She hoped she was ready for this. Actually being in labor made her doubt everything. But she could do this; she'd had an infant before. This one was just different because she was giving actually going to be with it from second one.

This was her own, and now that she was moments away from laying eyes on her son or daughter, she was terrified.

"Ok, Regina, next contraction I want you to push." Regina opened her eyes, glued them to the monitor, watched the contraction come.

She wanted her baby-now.

She pushed until Dr. Whale's voice cut her off.

"Ok, that's good. We're getting there."

"That's it?!" Regina gasped, swiping her hair off of her forehead. "That wasn't enough?"

"It's not that easy, but it won't be long. Ok, another one coming on."

Twelve hours of labor was making her exhausted. She had hoped it would be over quickly: one, two pushes and baby. But it seemed to drag on longer and longer than she'd planned. Maybe it was exhaustion, maybe it was pain, or maybe it was just her natural impatience.

"Regina, this is it. One more and we'll be done."

"I swear you've been saying that for the last hour." Regina groaned.

This time he was right. Regina looked up abruptly when her own cry of pain was cut off by a baby's wail. Her eyes went immediately to the screaming infant Whale was holding.

"What is it? Is it all right?" Tears were threatening to break from her eyes. The baby-her baby-was crying. She wanted it in her arms, quieting it, soothing it.

"It's a girl, Regina." Dr. Whale held the baby up. "And she's just fine."

A girl. A daughter. Her daughter. Regina vowed in that moment that she was going to be a better mother to her daughter than she'd ever had. No pressure, no threats. Her daughter could do, or be, whatever she wanted. Marry whomever she wanted. None of it mattered as long as her daughter was happy, and knew how much her mother loved her.

"Give her to me." Regina whispered. "Please."

The nurse was wrapping a white blanket around the baby. Then she was passing her to Regina. The tears that had threatened to fall fell freely. She could barely see her in through them.

"Hi darling." Regina cradled the warm, crying body closer to her. "It's all right, don't cry. There's absolutely nothing for you to cry about."

The baby was still whimpering softly when the nurse laid her hand on Regina's shoulder.

"We need to take her for a little while, get you both cleaned up and situated. Then you can have her back for as long as you like."

"Do we have to?" Regina didn't take her eyes from her daughter's face. She barely taken in a feature of the little girl, merely swallowed her essence whole. She hadn't had time to examine her the way she wanted.

"Unfortunately so," Dr. Whale agreed. "We have to get everything taken care of medically."

Tears of a different type started when the baby left her arms. It made it worse because the baby started to cry anew.

"No." Regina murmured. "Please no." Sobs threatened to over take her and she just wanted the baby back in her arms.

"She's fine. She'll be fine." Dr. Whale made an attempt to reassure her. But Regina barely heard him, barely heard anything else that happened in the room. Her daughter had been here, and was gone now, and Regina couldn't handle the fact that someone else was taking care of her.

Regina woke up to an oddly quiet room. Sometime after they'd taken the baby, exhaustion had caught up with her. She didn't remember when exactly her eyes had fallen shut, just remembered the heavy exhaustion that had suddenly enveloped her.

Now, she sat up. Stabbing pain eased her back onto the bed. For a moment, Regina stared at nothing, willing her body to participate. Taking a few deep breaths, she decided the pain wasn't so bad, more of a surprise. She supposed it was to be expected. But at the moment, there were more important things to worry about.

Her fingers found the call button, pressed it. It didn't take long for the white clad nurse to appear in the doorway.

"Did you sleep well?"

"I supposed." Regina tried sitting up more slowly this time. "How long was I asleep?"

"About two hours. It's after 9:30."

"And my daughter?" The word sounded strange on her tongue. After twelve years of only having a son, this was going to take some getting used to.

"She is beautiful. I'll go get her. I'm sure you're anxious to see her." Regina nodded.

"More than you know." The nurse gave her a bright smile as she left the room. Regina closed her eyes, pressed her hands against her face. She was still tired. Sleep could wait, the baby could not.

"Regina? You up for some company?" David's voice. Regina moved her heads to see the couple standing in the doorway. She wasn't sure she was in the mood for this. Regardless, she shrugged and motioned them in.

"How do you feel?" Snow asked, moving immediately to the side of the bed.

"Decent. I guess it could be worse."

Snow may or may not have said something, because Regina didn't hear anything. The nurse entered the doorway, and Regina's eyes fixed on the white blanket in her arms.

"Here she is." Regina barely realized she was reaching for the bundle, until the little girl was in her arms.

The world stopped moving in that instant. Regina hadn't had a chance to look at her daughter before. Now she could see the baby was absolutely breathtaking.

Her eyes were closed, so there was no judging a potential eye color. Her face was tiny, with delicate cheekbones and a tiny slope of a nose. She had a perfect pink rosebud of a mouth, all set off against creamy skin.

Carefully, Regina drew the blanket down a bit revealing tiny hands, each with five perfect fingers topped with nearly microscopic fingernails.

"She's exquisite." Regina breathed.

"Regina, she's beautiful." Snow leaned over the baby. Regina nodded. No words could come. Tears were threatening to close her throat. Her fingers pushed the small white hat on the baby's head back. There were faint wisps of dark hair scattered over it.

Perfect. Absolutely every single detail was perfect. Regina had never imagined having her own child, let alone one like this.

Snow was saying something. Regina shook herself out of her fog and looked at the other woman.

"What?"

"Her name. What's her name?"

Ah yes. The name. The name. The name. The name. Two things had been an issue the entire pregnancy: the name and the nursery. The nursery had eventually solved its own problem. Regina had left it black and white, to later be accented with pink or blue appropriately. Problem solved. The name continued to be the one thing which remained elusive. She'd come up with no solid names for either gender. Now she had a girl, and no clear name decisions.

In recent weeks, she'd toyed with Cora. She had thought that by naming her daughter after her mother, she might be able dismiss some of the negativity associated with her mother's memory. She'd tried calling the baby Cora, thinking of her daughter as Cora, but the only thing it had accomplished was bringing up painful memories of both her mother, and Zelena. Cora had ended up on the "Absolutely Not" list-directly after Zelena and Emma.

Fortunately ruling out Zelena had also ruled out similar sounding names-Selena, Marlena. Likewise, Emma had ruled out its own similarities-Emily, Emiline. Unfortunately, it left too many good possibilities remaining. The list had gradually gotten shorter, but there was no clear frontrunner.

Now Regina had to decide on a name. She trusted her instincts. Whatever name she'd fully decided on, she'd know it when she said it.

"Katherine." Regina said. As soon as she heard it, she knew that was it. Wholly. Completely. No doubt. Perfect child, perfect name. "Katherine Rose Mills. Kate."

"I think that's lovely." Snow stroked the baby's arm with one finger. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess Katherine." When Regina looked at her, Snow explained. "If her mother's the queen in the Enchanted Forest, that would make her a princess."

True, and second to the throne after Henry. Regina left that point out. It wasn't worth making the argument now. And if Regina had anything to say about it, neither of her children would set foot in the Enchanted Forest.

**A/N: I drove myself crazy trying to come up w/ a name. That's the best I could do! **


	6. Chapter 6

*********Update 5/29: Ok so I'm reposting this chapter just because a couple of people caught a major change I missed. Apparently someone tried to help me w/ editing and changed the baby's name without my knowledge. Originally it was supposed to be Katherine Alexis, but it ended up posted in Chapter 5 as Katherine Rose (which I don't even like, but oh well). So for lack of wanting to repost Chapter 5, here's an updated version of this one. For those of you who already ready, only change is to the name!**

**A/N: Yay another chapter! Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter! I love reading yours thoughts and observations. So I'm traveling this weekend, which will put a delay in the next chapter. You might want to read this one slowly**

Regina had adored Henry. There was no doubt of that. She still adored him with everything in her. But life with a daughter was different, completely different. Regina suspected that if she had had another boy, it would have been easy to slip into a second child syndrome. That was impossible with a little girl. Everything was too new, and too different.

The black and white nursery quickly became accented with hot pink details. That was in addition to the tiny pink dresses, sleepers, quilts and stuffed animals that filled the closets and shelves. It was a chic paradise for a little girl.

With the Charmings' blessing, Mr. Gold gave her the unicorn mobile from his shop. Regina frowned as soon as it was in the house.

"It doesn't go with her room. There's too much blue in it."

"Oh, that doesn't matter." Gold was pacing around beside the crib, which was making Regina's skin crawl anyway. "It will catch the light."

"Look, you delivered the gift. You don't need to hang it."

"Sure I do." Gold waved his hand, the mobile suspended over the crib. Regina visibly cringed. Tiny glass unicorns were now dancing over the crib, catching sunlight as it flickered in from the windows. Any other mobile would have been adorable. Not this one.

"It doesn't need to be over the crib. It'll scare her."

"She loves it." Gold was leaning over the crib, smiling at the infant. "It's perfect." He walked passed her, patting her shoulder. "Congratulations again, Regina."

When she heard the front door shut, Regina waved her hand, broke the spell, and removed the mobile. The Charmings had had the best of intentions; Gold did not. He was tormenting her with the fact that the mobile had been meant for Emma's nursery.

"So sorry about that, darling." Regina leaned against the edge of the crib, stroking her daughter's cheek. "He will never bother you again. And neither will this." She motioned to the mobile in her hand, and it disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.

As she looked over the little girl, Regina took in again just how much her daughter looked like Robin. She had his eyes, and one look at her face told that she was his daughter. Regina believed that with the exception of her dark hair, Katherine had inherited nothing from her mother.

Henry adored his little sister. He'd begun helping with her immediately-and an extra set of hands was a huge asset. He didn't mind holding her when she cried, or even changing her. Regina was impressed.

"What are you doing?" Regina asked. She had entered the nursery to find Henry holding Katherine and a book on his lap.

"Just reading to her."

"What are you reading?" As if she couldn't tell just from a glance at the book. Henry smiled.

"I thought she should know where she comes from."

"Don't you think it will be a bit difficult? Growing up knowing your mother was the Evil Queen?" He shrugged, shook his head.

"I figured it out and I'm ok."

The most shocking part of the first month was that Robin made no attempt to contact her. Regina was surprised. She couldn't decide if she was also a bit hurt. But she'd made it clear what she wanted, and was getting it.

Or so she thought.

The night she figured it out, it was late. It was well after midnight. Katherine ate at midnight, 4AM, and 8AM. Regina decided that was an entirely reasonable schedule. Staying up until midnight, with another solid four hours of sleep wasn't a bad deal for a single parent of a newborn.

The doctor had already assured her that once Katherine gained some weight, the midnight feeding would be the first to go. That was disappointing. The midnight feeding was her favorite. At midnight, Regina was awake enough to enjoy her daughter. At four, both mother and daughter were half asleep. Katherine was awake enough to eat her fill, and then fall back asleep. Regina wasn't even awake enough to enjoy the sleeping baby. She sadly found that she could nurse without being fully conscious. It was disappointing. It was something she wanted to remember every detail of.

Katherine had fallen asleep against her mother's shoulder, one tiny fist tangled in Regina's dark hair. Regina herself was dozing. She knew it was time to put Katherine to bed and get some sleep. But still, she sat, taking in her sleeping daughter, listening to her breathing, feeling her warm comforting weight.

Finally, she eased out of the rocking chair and paused for a moment. The baby stirred for a moment before settling again. Katherine was a snuggler. She would have slept every night on her mother if she could. Regina wouldn't have minded. But the risk always came when it was time to put her down.

She laid the baby down in the crib. Gently, she stroked Katherine's cheek as the baby settled into her bed. Regina flipped the light pink blanket over her.

"Good night, Kat. I'll see you in a few hours."

Damn it, Kat again. It just followed so easily from her tongue. Regina had sworn she'd never call her daughter "Kat". But it had been coming more and more easily.

As Regina turned to leave the room, something outside caught her eye. A figure was moving on the street beneath the circle of the street lamp. Regina made out the line of the bow on his back. She could tell Robin's profile from here with or without it.

What exactly was he doing outside of her house at this hour?

This was curious. How often did he come? There was no law against walking the street outside of someone's house. But it was curious that he'd be here. Shouldn't he have been home…in bed with his wife…checking on his own son?

Regina almost left the house; almost went out to ask him. But she held back. There was no need to call it out.

Not yet, at least.

It was the following Saturday that things had begun to escalate. Regina hadn't wanted to go out anyway. Henry had been pestering her to join him, Emma and the Charmings for lunch at Granny's. Regina had no interest. She'd searched for an excuse, but there wasn't a good one. And the truth wasn't helping. Henry wasn't buying "I don't want to go." So she'd packed up Katherine, and gone.

Regina decided her second mistake of the day was sitting facing the door. Katherine was asleep in her carrier on the chair between Regina and Snow. She'd shown no interest in the entire event. She'd barely stirred since they'd entered. Regina hoped this didn't mean she wouldn't sleep later.

They were mostly through the meal, which had been awkward but not entirely bad. Neal was old enough he needed constant attention, which kept most of the family occupied and kept little conversation flowing between the adults. Regina didn't like talking to Emma about anything, but when the other woman was expressing an interest in her daughter, it was hard to turn away the subject. Talking about her daughter was in her top two favorite topics. So as long as they only discussed Henry or Katherine, the two were mostly civil.

Regina naturally glanced up when she heard the door open, so did Snow. Both women reacted in a manner that caused their three companions to turn and look as well.

Robin, Marian and Roland had all entered the diner. Snow glanced over at Regina. Regina caught her eye, but remained focused on not drawing attention to herself.

That seemed destined to be impossible, as Robin's eyes seemed to go immediately to their corner. She watched as his eyes flicked from her, to the carrier beside her.

Regina frowned. He couldn't actually see Katherine from where he stood, but she preferred not to take any chances. Reaching down to her bag, she grabbed the blanket on top. Granny had made it for her and given it to her today-white crochet with purple flowers. Unfolding it, Regina flicked it over the top of the carrier, blocking the baby from the room.

"Really Regina?" Snow gave her a disproving look.

"What? I don't want her to be cold."

"She wasn't cold five minutes ago." Charming added.

"Although I did notice it getting colder in here." Emma was looking over her shoulder at the other group.

"Would you drop it?" Regina hissed. "This," she motioned to the carrier, "is none of his business."

"I kind of think it is." Charming looked over at her, but Snow reached for his hand and shook her head.

"He agreed to this." Regina looked around the table. "He agreed it was best."

No one responded. Regina suspected they were all thinking what she didn't say: that he'd only agreed because she'd insisted. Given him no other option.

They continued back to their meal in silence, broken up only by Neal's babbling. They were almost ready to leave, when Regina heard the faint whimperings of Katherine waking.

"No, Katherine-." Regina looked at the blanket-covered carrier. She sighed heavily. "Not now, anytime but now."

But the whimpering became more and more steady. Regina knew her daughter well enough to know it would only escalate into full blown wailing if she didn't intervene. Frowning, she flipped back the blanket, unsnapped the baby, and scooped her up.

"It's all right, darling." Regina murmured, kissing the baby's cheek. "No tears, Kat."

"I thought we weren't supposed to call her Kat." The statement startled Henry out of the video game he'd held on his lap. He gave Regina an amused smile.

"It just-." Regina's eyes were on Robin, who was pretending not to look at her. "It just flows sometimes, ok?"

"So I can call her Kat?" Henry was more amused with this than she liked. Regina rolled her eyes at him.

"_You _may call her Kat. That rule does not apply to anyone else at this table." She gave them all a warning look.

"That's all right, Neal likes Katie better anyway." Snow leaned over to kiss Katherine's forehead. Regina held her tongue. She had enough other issues to argue than the ridiculous idea that Katherine and Neal were meant to be playmates because of their nearness in age.

They were ready to leave. Except Regina. She was still holding Katherine. Putting Katherine down meant she was going to leave. Which meant passing Robin. Which meant passing Marian.

"Regina, coming?" Charming was standing in front of her, looking doubtful.

"Mom?" Henry appeared at her side. Regina looked at him, drew some fresh strength.

"Yes." She rebundled Katherine, tucked a pink fleece blanket over her, and draped the carrier with the crochet blanket for good measure. Then she got up, put on her own coat, and picked up Katherine's bag.

She had made it to the counter, was letting Henry handle her check as well as Emma's, when she heard his voice behind her.

"You'll excuse me, your Majesty, but your daughter is absolutely beautiful."

_Don't react. Just be polite. _

Regina pulled herself together and spun to face him.

"Thank you. I think she's wonderful." Robin gave her a forced smile that didn't quite meet his eyes. Behind him, Marian was watching her with a combination of fear and politeness. Regina held back her glaring frown. It was the first time she'd really come face to face with the other woman in some time, and it made her blood boil anew.

_Katherine. Katherine. Just get Katherine home. _

"May I ask," Robin was speaking again, "what is her name?"

He didn't know?! No one in this town-which gossiped over everything-had mentioned the baby's name to him?! Everyone knew the baby's name! How had it not gotten back to him?! Or was this some sort of ploy to make her feel worse?

No, the look on his face-and in his eyes-indicated he really didn't know. He'd avoided it. Managed to, somehow. Maybe he hadn't wanted to know. Maybe he'd made sure no one mentioned it to him.

But curiosity killed the cat in the long run.

"Katherine." Regina brought out her most polite smile. "Katherine Rose Mills."

Again, the smile that didn't meet his eyes.

"It's lovely. Absolutely lovely. Congratulations." And then he turned and returned to Marian and Roland, as he always did, as he always would.

Outside, Regina tucked Katherine into the backseat of her car. Henry slipped in beside her, leaned into kiss Katherine before he kissed Regina and ran off with Emma. He'd be home later. Today, it was fine. Regina wanted nothing more than to go home, curl up on the couch and cuddle with Katherine for the rest of the gray afternoon.

"Regina, you don't look so good." Snow was behind her, but Regina didn't bother to turn around.

"Why is it that if I'm doing the right thing for everyone….why do I feel so terrible?"


	7. Chapter 7

It was almost midnight. Henry had gone upstairs to bed not long ago. Regina knew he wasn't sleeping. She could hear the music of either a video game or the television drifting down the stairs. It didn't much matter on a Saturday night.

She had been alternating between reading a book and staring at the baby monitor. Katherine had made a few soft sounds, but not actually woken up. For the moment, she was silent.

The clock ticked closer to midnight. Regina was thinking of going to bed. She knew the second her head hit the pillow, Katherine would be awake. But the day had been exhausting. Maybe a bath, that could be just as relaxing. And a bath was far easier to be interrupted from than sleep.

She was still debating between her preferred place to be disturbed and waiting up for the baby when there was a knock on the door.

No good came from someone showing up at 11:45 on a Saturday night.

Regina got up and glanced out one of the windows. Sighing, she pulled the door open.

Robin stood on the other side.

"What do you want?" She asked, wondering if she sounded as exasperated as she felt. Why did he have to be here now? Why did he have to be here at all?

He raised his hands in front of him, as if in a symbol of peace or surrender.

"I'm not here to fight with you. I just have a request."

"I can't help you."

"Please, Regina, just hear me out." Regina frowned, but stepped back from the doorway.

"All right." She turned back into the house. She heard Robin follow her, closing the door behind him. "What do you want?"

"A photograph."

"What?" Regina stared at him blankly. Briefly she glanced up the stairs, making sure there was no response from Henry. Vaguely, she still heard the music from his room. Good. Distracted.

"Please, Regina, she's my daughter. She's my only daughter. All I want is one picture of her, and then I'll go."

He was right. As much as it hurt, as much as it was hard to say, he _was _her father. Guilt swelled inside of her. Was she doing the wrong thing? Guilt pushed people to making strange decisions. Regina took a deep breath.

"I have a whole CD full of pictures in the den. You can pick one out. I'll print it for you." She finally looked at him. It needed done. She had to give him a little slack. Robin looked relieved.

"Thank you." Regina motioned over her shoulder for him to follow her. In the den, she flipped on the lights and sat down to turn on the computer.

"Just keep your voice down. Henry doesn't need to know that you're here."

"Fair enough." Robin agreed. He watched the laptop screen as it lit up. "That's an adorable picture." He pointed to the wallpaper image of Katherine in a blue dress with a headband displaying a wide blue bow on her. Regina chuckled.

"She'll hate me some day for that one. Henry likes it. Says it makes her look like Alice in Wonderland. Maybe I should have named her Alice."

"I love her name." Robin moved into the chair as Regina got up. "I've been playing it in my head all day. I think it's beautiful." Regina gave him a faint smile.

"Good. Are you any better with a computer?"

"A….little."

As she figured. Regina waited until the CD loaded up, then positioned the cursor over an arrow on the right side.

"Click there, with this button." She tapped the wireless mouse button. "Just look through them. I have to go get the baby monitor. She might be awake…soon."

"Of…course." Robin's eyes were fixed on the screen.

In the living room, Regina picked up the baby monitor. It was still silent. Good.

Why did he have to come here? Why couldn't he just let well enough alone? She'd known today had set something off. One look at him this afternoon had told her that. She felt it in her all day. Now the question was, just how far gone were things?

Regina realized she was griping the baby monitor too tightly, and forced her hand to relax. One picture. One picture wasn't too much to ask. And then he'd go.

Right? He _would_ go, right?

_Stay asleep, Kat. Stay asleep. _

She returned to the den to find Robin leaning one elbow on the desk, looking at the computer screen with a smile radiating across his face. She leaned in to take a look at the image that was bringing him to it.

"That's a beautiful one. She was about two days old in it." Regina sat down across the desk from him, placing the baby monitor in front of her.

"She has my eyes." Robin pointed out. Regina nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

"That amongst everything else. She looks exactly like you." Robin wrinkled his nose, shook his head no.

"I do not know what baby you are looking at, but the only thing this child got from me is my eyes. She is a miniature version of you. I suspect she's going to grow up to look exactly like her mother, only with blue eyes."

That felt good to hear. No one else mentioned whom Katherine looked like. Maybe they all thought it was too painful a conversation to have. Maybe no one thought about it. Maybe Katherine really did look like her, but Regina only saw Robin in her baby.

They were silent for a few beats with only the clicking of the mouse and the drone of Henry's upstairs technology.

"Tell me about her." Robin's eyes never left the computer screen. He was transfixed at the sight of the baby in front of him.

"What do you want to know?"

"I don't know. Tell me what she likes." Regina laughed.

"Robin she's a month old. She likes eating, sleeping and throwing up on me." Robin chuckled, eyes still on the computer screen.

"Well then, what do you call her? Kathy?"

"It's funny you ask." Regina looked at the baby monitor again and settled back into the chair. "I meant to call her Kate. Or Katie. Some people call her Katie-Henry does. But I ended up calling her Kat. Which I swore I would never do."

"Katie." Robin murmured, his eyes on the screen. Regina suspected someone else had just joined the Katie bandwagon. "Do you read to her? Sing to her?"

"Yes. To both. Henry and I both read to her. I'm trying to remember songs I knew from the Enchanted Forrest, but I'm afraid I didn't know as many as I thought."

"It's the effort that matters." Robin shrugged. "She'll remember it regardless." Regina closed her eyes, shook her head.

"Robin…you have….you have no idea what she means to me. She's the most precious thing in the world."

Robin glanced upwards, pointed towards the doorway.

"Don't let Henry hear you say that."

"He understands. I love him too. More than I can say. I'd do anything for Henry. But I don't know. There are times I just sit and stare at her….I just can't believe she's actually here. That she's real. That she's mine."

"But she's not yours. At least not entirely." Regina was silent. What argument could she make? Robin took her silence as an opportunity to continue.

"Well, she's quite real. At least from what I've seen. But then, of course, you're talking to the man who didn't know his daughter's name until ten hours ago."

Regina finally looked at him, stared at him.

"What do you want me to say? That I'm sorry? Because I'm not. This is how-."

"Things have to be. I've heard it before, thank you." Robin looked over the computer at her. "That does not make things any easier. You have no idea what it felt like today, to see you, to see her, and to have no idea what even her name was. I mean no disrespect, Regina, but you need to at least consider how I feel in this situation."

Regina lowered her eyes to her skirt. She watched the hemline not move for a few moments.

"I'm….sorry." She finally said, without looking up. "None of this was ever to hurt you…I actually meant to make things easier for you."

Robin opened his mouth. Then he seemed to reconsider the thought and stopped himself.

"I'm not sure I'm in the mood to have this discussion with you tonight. I said I didn't come here to fight, and I meant that. I just need to be able to look at her. When I want to, not when I have to steal a glimpse of her."

"Did you find one?" Regina glanced towards the doorway. Henry's music was quiet now. He was either sleeping, or evesdropping. And knowing her son, it could be either.

"They're all beautiful. But I can't take fifty of them. But the one with the blue bow….I know I'll never get that one out of my head. So I might as well have it in my hands." Regina smiled.

"Fair enough." She turned on the printer, loaded it with paper. When the sheet of wallet sized stopped printing, she took a pair of scissors and snipped one out.

"As promised." She held it out to him. Robin took it, held the picture in front of him for a moment.

"Thank you." He pulled a worn leather wallet from his pocket and carefully slipped the picture into the bill slot.

It was at the moment small whimpers came from the baby monitor. They quickly escalated to full blown wails. Regina glanced at the clock. 12:20. Right on time, Katherine.

Betrayed by her daughter. Before she was even six weeks old.

"Well…I better…be going." Robin pointed towards the door. "And you better…get…that." He motioned back towards the baby monitor.

"Yes. Well…"

"I'll talk to you later, Regina." Robin started into the entry way, towards the front door. Regina followed a few steps behind him, intending to go directly upstairs.

Guilt was making her throat dry out. She had never thought she'd feel so miserable. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. None of this was how it was supposed to go. Why couldn't she just be alone with Katherine-and enjoy it? But truth be told, even when she was enjoying her baby, she was miserable beneath. She wanted Robin there with her, with them. She knew that was impossible. But even so-guilt thrived in her. If she let him walk out of the door now-.

"Wait." Regina looked up. Robin paused, his hand on the door. "Just-. Wait." She finally met his eyes, shook her head. "This is silly."

**A/N: This chapter was meant to be longer, but I cut it short just for suspense. I know, not nice. I won't make you wait long for chapter 8.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews/favorites/follows of the last chapter. As promised, a quick update!**

_"This is silly."_

Robin paused, his hand on the door. His eyes drifted up the stairs towards the baby's cries.

"What's silly?"

"You're rushing out of the house to avoid an infant." Regina sighed, pushing her hands through her hair. "Robin, I can't keep doing this to you. She's your daughter." She held her breath a moment before finishing the statement. "Do you want to meet her?"

Robin stood in momentary silence. His stunned eyes scanned over her face, searching for something. Belief? Sincerity? Finally, he answered her in a tone that was suppressing emotion.

"Yes. Yes of course."

Regina nodded.

"Give me a few minutes to feed her, then I'll bring her down. Just wait here."

Having his acceptance, Regina hurried up the stairs. But first, she stopped and inched open Henry's door. Henry was asleep on his stomach, facing the doorway. The crack of light from the doorway illuminated his face. Regina eased it shut before she woke him.

Leaving Henry, she went down the hall to Katherine's room. Katherine was still crying. She'd never cried this long alone before. Regina thought she now knew what it felt like to have her heart crushed.

"I'm sorry, darling, I'm sorry." She purred as she entered the nursery. "I'm so sorry." She unbuttoned her blouse and opened her bra before picking Katherine up. Katherine paid her little attention, immediately latching onto her mother's breast.

"Pretend to listen to me for a just a second." Regina paced the room, rocking the baby against her. "There's someone downstairs I want you to meet. And it's very important, ok? I don't know how often you're going to see him, so we have to make this work tonight."

Regina sighed, hugged Katherine to her.

"I hope this is the right thing. For both of us."

When Katherine had her fill, Regina bounced her gently in her arms to keep her awake.

"Stay with me, ok? Just for a little while."

She made sure Katherine was changed and acceptable to meet her father for the first time. She was wearing a white sleeper sprinkled with purple and pink hearts. Regina was not changing her clothes in the middle of the night. It would have to work. Fixing her shirt, Regina deemed them both ready. She tried to pretend her hands weren't shaking as she picked up the baby and started towards the stairs.

Robin's eyes fixed on the baby as soon as they reached the top of the staircase. The look on his face, in his eyes, set Regina's fears aside.

"Here she is." Regina purred as she reached his side. "This is Katherine."

"Katie." Robin breathed, never looking away from the infant. His eyes were gleaming with unshed tears. The smile on his face was joy in its absolute purest form. His entire body seemed to radiate with it.

"Do you want to hold her?"

"Of course." Regina passed the baby gently from her arms to his. Robin's breath caught. He raised Katherine in front of him, shaking his head. He brought her to him, kissed her forehead, slowly with his lips lingering.

"Hello my darling. I'm your daddy. Bet you thought you didn't have one, did you? But you do. I'm right here. I'm right here, my precious."

Regina's eyes filled with tears that she blinked back. The way he held their daughter, the way he looked at her. It was the single most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

"Are you tired? Robin murmured, pressing his forehead against Katherine's. "We're keeping you up, aren't we?"

Regina swallowed the lump in her throat, cleared it.

"Don't be concerned if she starts getting cranky. She's tired." Regina reached over, stroked her daughter's hair off of her forehead.

"Does she sleep well?" Robin's fix on Katherine broke for a moment, and he looked back at Regina.

"Yes." Regina nodded. "About four hour blocks, usually."

"Well that's good. And eating?"

"She's a good eater."

"You're breast feeding her?"

"A bit of both. I've been working with bottles a little. You never know when I might have to leave her somewhere. Especially in this town." Robin turned his attention back to Katherine. He stared at her for a long moment, one hand rubbing the back of her head.

"Regina….I didn't come here to fight with you tonight, but I have to say this: I cannot keep pretending she isn't mine, or that I don't know anything about her. I just can't-." His words broke off for a moment "I can't agree to this anymore. I won't."

"It's ok." Regina held up her hand to stop him, her own tears threatening to spill over her eyes. The truth was that she loved him too much to see him hurt like this, too much to keep hurting him by her own actions. "I can't ask you to anymore. I was wrong to try. She needs you, you need her. "

Robin's eyes fell shut. He held Katherine tighter to him, his head falling against hers.

"Thank you. But Regina, this won't be easy." Regina turned away from him to contain herself.

"If we're going to do this, we have to deal with Problem Number One."

"Marian." Robin nodded. "I'll handle her."

"What are you going to tell her?" Regina wasn't 100% sure she trusted this plan.

"The truth, I suppose." Robin shrugged. He looked nervous. Hesitant. Regina was loosing more and more enthusiasm for this arrangement. As guilty as she felt, things had worked well so far. But she couldn't let her own fears control this situation. Robin deserved to be with his daughter. Katherine deserved a father.

"Unless of course you have a better idea."

"Well, we could always use a memory charm. Make her forget she knows anything about you." Robin made a face, shook his head.

"That's a bit much. Let's try the truth first."

"What is the truth?" Regina asked. She was curious. What version exactly was he going to tell? There were several ways their events could have been spun.

"That she was dead. I had moved on-with you. And the product of that was Katie."

It was the truth-or rather close enough to it. Even if it didn't sound as romantic as she wanted it to be. He was leaving out the fact that Regina was his soul mate-his true love.

"Just remember," Regina paced the entry way, looking over at him, "that in Marian's mind, she's been gone a much shorter time. You and I know how long it actually was. To her, she was never even dead-just afraid of becoming so."

Robin took a breath.

"I never thought of that."

"Just take it as a warning, this conversation may not go as you have planned." Robin shook his head firmly.

"I know Marian. She won't keep me from my own daughter."

"All right, but let's be clear: I do not want Marian in Katherine's life. She does not need a mother-she has me."

"Marian will not try to take your place in Katherine's life." Robin waved her statement away. "Besides," the last word came out distracted, almost as an afterthought, "she hasn't been well since she got back."

"What do you mean?" That startled Regina back to reality. She shot Robin a curious look.

"I don't know. She's just been…sickly."

"Was she before?"

"No."

Those words would come back to her, eventually. But tonight she passed over them because Katherine was beginning to whimper. Robin frowned down at her.

"What's wrong with her? What am I doing wrong?"

"Nothing." Regina stepped closer to him, rubbed Katherine's back gently. "She's tired." She held out her arms. "Let me take her. She doesn't know you well enough to fall asleep for you."

Robin leaned down and kissed the top over Katherine's head. He pressed his face against her before reluctantly passing her over to Regina.

"You should put her to bed before things get bad. And then get some sleep yourself."

Regina smiled, silently relieved that Katherine was back in her arms.

"Yes. We'll both have to be awake in four hours."

"And I should get back myself. I've been gone a long time." He touched Regina's arm, causing her to turn her attention back to him. "Thank you."

"Of course." Regina murmured, her eyes glued to his. Robin leaned down, kissed Katherine again. Regina shuddered at the sudden closeness of him.

"I'll see you both soon. I promise." He pulled the door open, looked back at Regina. "I promise. I'll be back."

"All right." Regina nodded. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding when the door closed.

"Well that wasn't so bad, was it?" Regina asked Katherine as she moved through the downstairs, turning off lights and making sure doors were locked. "I think it went better than expected."

Katherine was asleep against her chest. She hadn't even responded when Regina had offered her a pacifier. She hoped that wouldn't come to an issue in two hours.

Regina carried the baby upstairs and dropped into the nursery rocking chair. For a while, she rocked slowly trying to put the evening's events into place. Had guilt just caused her to make a horrible decision? Had she just ruined everything? Maybe Marian would be ok with it, maybe she would just accept the entire situation.

Regina knew that wasn't true.

"By the way, Kat," Regina sighed heavily, "I may have killed your stepmother thirty years ago."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: First and foremost thank you guys for your awesome reviews on the last chapter! You all are fantastic! **

**A couple quick housekeeping notes… First Robin. Yeah, I'm not impressed with how I'm making him out either. But I can think of no good way to fix this situation w/out making him unlikable for a while. I promise to fix him in a chapter or two…or three.**

**Also, by this point we're about 11 months since the events of the finale. Katherine will be 2 months old by the end of the chapter. **

**Enjoy!**

Regina could find no real pattern to the nights Robin came. He always came late, midnight or later. Regina tolerated it for a few evenings until it became apparent it was beginning to stress Katherine.

The baby was sleeping or barely awake when he arrived. She was able to stay awake without fussing for only a short time before she absolutely could not take anymore. Once she finally did fall asleep, she would sleep until after 8 in the morning. Some mornings, she was whiney and clingy. Regina couldn't accomplish much in her day when Katherine screamed every time she was put down.

"I'm not saying you can't see her." Regina told Robin.

It was after 1:30. Katherine had been sound asleep, until Regina had retrieved her from her crib and passed her off to her father. She'd spent the next hour crying, and had finally worn herself out enough to sleep.

"You just have to come earlier. We can't keep putting her through this. She's so confused because these two crazy people are waking her up all night. It's too stressful for her. Besides, she's actually fun during waking hours."

Robin sighed and leaned back on the couch. He seemed to be thinking. Regina reached out, laid her fingers lightly on his wrist.

"Robin I'm not saying-."

"I know what you're saying. You're saying you shouldn't have to spend the day with a cranky infant who's had her sleep interrupted just so she can spend time with a man she generally has no interest in."

"It's true." Regina shrugged, looking at him sadly. Robin nodded.

"You're right. It's not fair to her-or to you."

"So you'll come during the day?"

"I will." He laid his hand over hers, squeezed it lightly. "I promise."

She didn't know if he'd told Marian. She wasn't going to bring it up. Truthfully, it was his business. Unless he showed up on her doorstep with Marian in tow she didn't care.

One afternoon, Regina was settled on the floor beside Katherine. Katherine was lying on a green quilted mat that was decorated with jungle animals. There she was alternating between watching the lights on the toy Regina was holding, attempting to roll on her side, and reaching for other toys to put in her mouth.

"You almost made it that time." Regina put the toy down and ran her fingers over Katherine's chest, tickling her lightly. "It was your best try yet. I think you're going to perfect it very soon."

That was how it started: rolling onto the side, the back, the stomach, then crawling, then standing, then walking and then-.

She was getting ahead of herself. Katherine was still small, and she was not missing that for anything.

The doorbell rang. Regina glanced up suspiciously. She wasn't expecting anyone. Could it mean-?

She got up faster than she intended and was too excited to see if it was him.

But her surprise came when she opened the door. Tinkerbell stood on the otherside.

"Tinkerbell." Regina took a step back in surprise. "This is…unexpected."

"I'm sure it is." The blonde smiled and held up a box in her hand. "I brought a gift for the baby. I was hoping to lay eyes on this little princess of yours."

Unexpected as it was, Regina stepped aside from the door. Tink moved inside. Regina laid her coat over the banister and motioned the other woman to follow her.

"This is Miss Katherine." Regina returned to her original place on the floor. Tinkerbell smiled brightly and knelt down on the opposite side.

"Regina, she is beautiful. May I?" Regina shrugged.

"She's in a good mood today, I don't see why she won't go to you."

"Well, let's try." Tinkerbell reached down. "May I, Miss Katherine? May I hold you, darling?"

Katherine looked generally unimpressed by the entire event, so she kept her eyes on Regina for safety's sake. Regina smiled, reached over and lightly stroked her fingers against Katherine's forehead.

"It's ok, love."

"Yes, it's ok. Your mother's right there." Tinkerbell bounced the baby gently in her arms. "And I've got you. Nothing's going to happen to you. What should I be calling her?"

Regina rolled her eyes, let her palms fall up in a questioning pose.

"Any form of Kat, Kate, Katie or Katherine you like. It doesn't really matter. The whole town calls her something different. I figure once she's old enough to talk, she can pick how she introduces herself. So long as it isn't Kathy."

"Well they all suit her." Tink held the baby in front of her before shifting her into one arm and offering Regina the box she'd brought. "Here, for both of you."

Regina opened the box. From inside, she pulled a snow globe. There was nothing inside except for bright glittering sparkles.

"Pixie dust."

"Not the real thing, just a fancy charm. But I thought it might be good for both of you to have the reminder."

Regina twirled the snow globe, smiled.

"I'll put it in her room. I'll explain it to her when she's older. Right after I get through explaining that all of the fairy tale characters in her books are real people in her town."

"I think any little girl who be thrilled to learn that." Tinkerbell held the baby face to face with her, smiled at her.

"Except when they find out that their mother was villain of the story." Regina frowned and set the snow globe down on the coffee table.

"_Was_ the villain of the story." Tink looked over at her. "That's not true anymore."

"Not in her case. _Never_ in her case." Regina's eyes fixed on her daughter. "Why are you here, anyway?"

Tinkerbell merely shrugged and focused on Katherine.

"Maybe I thought you might enjoy having someone else to talk to. Maybe I thought enough time had passed from our history. Or that maybe you were finally ready to accept that I was right all along."

Regina sighed and closed her eyes.

"So here we go again, hhmm?"

"Are the town rumors true?" Tink turned to face Regina. "Are you really keeping Robin away from her?" Regina shook her head and looked down at her hands in her lap.

"They were true, but they're not anymore. Robin's been seeing her for the better part of a month now."

"That's good!" Tinkerbell's enthusiasm was almost too much. Regina frowned at her. "Regina! That's great!"

"No it's not." Regina rolled her eyes. "For now, it works fine. But what am I going to do when she gets older? When she can recognize him in public? When she doesn't understand why she can't go see her daddy in town? How am I going to explain that to her?"

"Maybe by then everything will have worked its self out." Regina groaned. She gave Tinkerbell a disgusted look.

"You are not going to start with this soul mate crap again, are you?"

"It's true, Regina. I know it's hard right now, but it's true. Pixie dust doesn't lie, you two are soul mates."

"Yeah, well, tell that to his wife." Regina gathered up a stack of Katherine's toys. "And please don't tell me how if I hadn't messed things up years ago we wouldn't be here now."

"I wouldn't get too fixated on Marian." Tinkerbell stated calmly, still cuddling Katherine. Regina's head shot up, confusion covering her face.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. Just that I know things aren't working out right now, but they will, eventually. Marian or no Marian."

"Great. Maybe we'll be together when we're 80." Regina turned a rattle over in her hand, frowning.

"So you do love him." Regina didn't respond, just squeezed the rattle tighter. "Regina, you can tell me. Of all people, you can tell me."

Regina let her eyes close, took a deep breath.

"I love him so much I physically feel the ache inside of me." She opened her eyes and looked over at the fairy. Tinkerbell smiled.

"Just don't lose hope." Regina smiled sadly and shook her head.

"I already have."

Tinkerbell had been cradling Katherine for forty-five minutes when the doorbell rang.

"You're popular this afternoon." Tinkerbell remarked. Regina rolled her eyes.

"I'm never this popular. Hopefully this isn't bad news."

She got up and went to the door. Pulling it open, she blinked back her surprise.

"You said to come earlier." Robin smiled. "Does this work?"

"I-. Um. Yeah, of course." Regina took a step back and motioned him inside.

Robin froze in the entryway when he saw Tinkerbell, who had stood up with Katherine.

"Oh, I didn't realize you already had company."

"Don't mind me." Tink smiled and moved into the entryway with them. "I was just leaving. So I will give you this." She handed Katherine to Robin. "And be on my way."

"You don't have to-." Regina began, but the blonde fairy was already putting on her coat.

"I'll talk to you soon, Regina. Robin Hood, good to see you again." She waved and disappeared out of the front door.

Robin looked from Regina to the door and back again.

"You want to tell me what that was all about?"

"Remember when I told you pixie dust showed me my soul mate?"

"Yes…."

"Well, that was the fairy who gave it to me." Regina walked into the living room and began gathering up toys.

"Ah," Robin nodded as he followed her, his face showing his understanding. "So-."

"Let's talk about something else, shall we?" Regina stopped him.

"Of course." Robin looked at the collection of toys she'd acquired. "Now what's all this?"

"Just a wide variety of Katherine's collection." Regina smiled, leaned in to kiss Katherine quickly. She pulled back before she could take in the full essence of Robin.

"Well, it looks like fun." Robin sat down on the floor and picked up a stuffed rabbit. "Who's this?"

"That's a particular favorite." Regina sat down on the edge of the sofa. "Watch, the ears always go right into her mouth."

Robin bounced the rabbit up her chest, tickled it against her face. He laughed as Katherine grasped one ear and shoved it into her mouth.

"Spot on with that one. Is she teething?"

"Not yet, but most likely getting ready to." Regina sighed and slid back to the floor. Robin picked up a zebra striped rattle, shook it in front of Katherine.

"Isn't this a little bold for her?" Regina chuckled.

"It matches her nursery."

"You put her into a black and white nursery?" Robin looked momentarily shocked.

"It has pink accents every where." Regina waved him away. She picked up a stuffed pink cat and shook it to Katherine. A small bell jingled inside of it.

"Well, I'm sure it's….lovely." Robin shrugged. Regina smiled.

"I'll show you before you go. See, I told you she's much more interesting when she's awake."

"She is that." Robin tickled Katherine gently. "I'm glad I could come."

"Me too." Regina murmured. They were both silent for a moment, and then Regina decided she couldn't not ask any longer. "So I guess you told Marian."

His reaction wasn't what she was expecting. Robin sighed heavily.

"Do you have to bring up such an uncomfortable topic?" Regina stared at him, then rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize bringing up your wife was such an "uncomfortable" topic."

"I do not want to have this discussion right now." Robin gave her a warning look. Regina held up her hands in surrender. She said nothing, but her suspicions continued to tug at her.

"I'm glad you did."

"Regina."

"I'm just saying-."

"Look," Robin sighed, "yes I told Marian about Katherine. Katherine is only part of the equation though. So let's stop talking about it."

Only part of the equation? What did he mean by that? Regina looked at him curiously. But she didn't ask. She didn't want him to leave. Even if he was only here for Katherine, she wanted him here.

He played with Katherine for a while longer. They made small talk about her. But Regina could feel it. She could feel the bond between then. Every time he laughed, or teased her about something with Katherine, she felt it pulsing in the room between them. Her heart throbbed for Robin. Did he feel it? He had to.

Katherine began to whimper in Robin's arms. Alarm crept across Robin's face.

"Why is she doing that? Why does she always do that for me?"

"That's actually a different cry than what you're used to. That's the hunger cry." Robin stared at her.

"How do you know that?"

"I'm her mother. It's my job." Regina got up. "I've been working with her on the bottles during the day. Do you want to try feeding her?"

"Do you think she'll let me?" Robin looked suspiciously between Katherine and Regina.

"Oh, I think if she's hungry enough she'll let anyone feed her." Regina smiled. Robin rolled his eyes at Regina and turned back to Katherine.

"Your mother is not funny. At all." He pressed his index finger against the baby's nose. Katherine made a soft sound and reached up, grabbing one of her father's fingers with one tiny hand. Regina heard Robin's gasp.

"I don't think you're going to have any trouble with her." Regina smiled softly.

Robin followed her into the kitchen, cradling Katherine in the crook of his left arm.

"Rather unbelievable…in the Enchanted Forest the princess is the daughter of the thief and the queen herself."

"I'm not sure they'd accept her as a princess there, not without you publically renouncing her as yours." Regina set about getting Katherine's bottle together. She was still by no means comfortable nursing her in front of Robin.

"Well that's not happening." Robin rocked Katherine, smiling down at her. Regina chuckled and shook her head, focusing on the bottle. "What will you tell her?" Regina glanced up, looking over at him.

"About what?"

"About our homeland." Regina ran the bottle under warm tap water to heat it slightly.

"Well, I would tell her it is a land completely different from the one that she was born in…with different rules and customs and different types of creatures."

"You're not playing it up very much." Regina turned, dried the bottle on a dishtowel.

"What's to tell?" Regina shrugged. "Telling her about my life as the Evil Queen may not fly very well." She crossed the kitchen and held out the bottle to Robin. "Remember how?"

"It's been awhile, but I think I'll figure it out."

"Don't panic if she won't take it. She's still getting used to…" Regina watched as Katherine searched briefly for the nipple before taking it into her mouth.

"There we go." Robin murmured, swaying gently. "She's got this."

"Yes she does." Regina smiled, glancing over at him. "What will you tell her, anyway?"

"About the Enchanted Forest?" Robin looked at Katherine for a long moment. "I would tell her the tales of a dashingly handsome thief and all of his adventures. How he stole from the rich, gave to the poor. How he defeated the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. How, after spending years running from his Queen's Black Knights, he finally met her in person just as the Wicked Witch's Flying Monkey took off into the sky. And found that she was nowhere near as evil as the stories that were told."

A pang of guilt hit her stomach. Did he know she was the one who had killed Marian and was letting it go? Or did he really not know?

"Be careful how you tell that story." Regina warned, her eyes on Katherine.

They'd have that particular discussion another day. Maybe in fifty or sixty years.

"You worry too much." Robin told her.

"Yeah, that's what it is." Regina leaned against the refrigerator, just taking the two of them in. Robin was lost in Katherine, murmuring softly to her, leaning down so he could be closer to her. It was beautiful. He was such a good father.

Robin looked over at her.

"Are you crying?"

"No." Regina wiped her eyes on the back of her hand and turned away from him. When she looked back, he was watching her with an expression of such tenderness that she wasn't comfortable seeing it on his face.

Regina was not ok with things going well. Typically because she'd found that things went the best right before they fell apart. And for the moment, things were going very well.

She had determined she could leave Katherine alone with Snow if she actually decided to work in in the office or meet Tinkerbell for lunch. Regina didn't like leaving Katherine, she knew she'd never be one of those parents who enjoyed time away from her baby. But she had to admit it was nice every now and then to move without having to worry about baby accessories.

She could get along with two out of three Charmings with no problem, and could tolerate Emma for brief periods as long as they weren't left to their own conversation topics. She and Tinkerbell had worked past their issues, and were close to actually developing a real friendship.

Henry came by regularly. At night, he was just as happy as she was to put Katherine to bed so they could spend time together, real time. Regina loved playing games with him, even trying to figure out his phone and video games. Katherine was special, but Henry had a connection to her that would never be broken.

And she and Robin had bonded. In just a short time, they'd bonded so much over Katherine. She couldn't deny it, so she wasn't. It was just the two of them. There was no one to hide it from, so why should she. And she didn't care. Their connection was real, and if that was the closest she got to having him, then she was going to take it.

She should have guessed something was about to go wrong when Tinkerbell dropped by late one evening and asked her to have coffee with her. Late to a woman with an infant was 7:00.

"I can't. Katherine goes to bed soon. I hate messing up her sleeping schedule."

"So get her ready for bed and let her fall asleep while you're out, then put her straight to bed when you get home. Come on, Regina. This is the first decent night we've had this spring. I hate to see you waste it."

It was true. While the weather wasn't close to breaking, it was warmer than usual and the sun was actually shining. And the wind wasn't blowing, that was a huge benefit.

Regina rolled her eyes.

"All right, give me 10 minutes."

It was an outing that had happened multiple times over the last few weeks. It was not unusual to see Tinkerbell and Regina in Granny's, so no one gave them a second look. And until tonight, there had been no incidents.

Regina determined Ruby was the fourth person in town that Katherine would go to. Well, the fourth person not counting her mother.

"How have you been in here all these times and I've never got to hold her?" Ruby asked, bouncing Katherine on her side. Regina was convinced the baby was going to have a meltdown, but she kept it together.

"Tonight's clearly your lucky night." Regina smiled. Katherine was watching her nervously.

"Can I take her back to see Granny's real quick? She loves her."

"Yeah, it's fine." Regina nodded. Ruby grinned and quickly disappeared with the baby.

"I'm proud of you." Tink took a sip of her coffee. "You're actually letting that child out of your sight at regular intervals."

"Well, I'm trying not to make it a habit." Regina picked up her own cup, brought it her lips but didn't drink. "I like to be close to her. She needs me. Besides, I'm not 100% sure she's not going to freak out on Ruby."

"There's a lot of people in this town who care about her." Tinkerbell advised her. "Present company included."

"I appreciate that." Regina finally drank from her coffee cup, but didn't relax until Ruby brought Katherine back to them.

They made their usual small talk over coffee. Regina held Katherine on her lap, leaning against her abdomen until the baby started to fuss. She gladly went to Tinkerbell when Regina offered.

"I see how it is." Regina smiled, resting her chin in her hand. "You meet your first fairy and I'm old news."

"Don't joke, Regina. This child adores you." Tinkerbell kissed Katherine's cheek. "She just finds me irresistible."

Regina smirked and raised her eyebrows before taking another sip of coffee. But the smile drained from her face as the door opened.

"Why do I bother coming here again?" Tinkerbell looked curious, turned to see what was going on.

Robin, Marian and Little John had all entered the diner. Tinkerbell turned back to Regina, shaking her head.

"Don't let it bother you. He's your daughter's father. This should not be a problem."

"It shouldn't be," Regina agreed, "but one of them disagrees with that."

Robin glanced back and locked eyes with her. Regina raised her hand in a greeting and then went back to her coffee.

"Regina, _Regina_. Focus." Tink held up Katherine. "This is not a problem."

Regina wished she believed her.

For a few more minutes, Tinkerbell was right. Regina turned her attention back to finishing her coffee. It was getting later anyway. Katherine was way too awake for 9:00 at night. Regina had almost relaxed until she heard a raised voice from the front of the diner.

"What is _this_?!" Marian's voice brought Regina's eyes back to her. She was holding Robin's wallet in one hand. And in the other-.

"Shit." Regina closed her eyes.

"What?" Tinkerbell turned around, but Marian was already crossing the diner, her eyes set on Regina.

Regina was not intimidated, she was annoyed. She sat up straighter and glared at the other woman.

"Now you listen to me!" Marian exclaimed as she reached the table. She took the picture Regina had given Robin in both hands and tore it once, then a second time. She let the scraps scatter over the table like confetti. "You and your bastard child need to keep away from my husband!"

Regina's eyes flashed with anger. She was now too calm, too collected. Marian could say what she wanted about Regina, Regina expected that. But Katherine was an entirely different story.

"No, _you _listen to _me_." Regina rose slowly to her feet, stood facing Marian. Rage was a powerful thing. It could make people act irrationally. And Marian suddenly seemed to realize her mistake instantly. She took a step back. "If you ever, _ever _say another word about one of my children again, you'll find yourself face to face with the Evil Queen you're so afraid of."

Marian took another step backwards. Robin was already behind her with his hand on her upper arm, pulling her away.

"Regina. _Regina_." Tinkerbell was standing beside her. Regina broke her glare, which had followed Marian out of the door, to look at the fairy. Tink held Katherine out to her. "Here. Take her."

Regina took her baby, hugged her to her chest. Katherine was unfazed by the entire ordeal. She grabbed a handful of Regina's collar and held tight. Regina clung to her daughter, inhaling her essence.

It was one thing to cross her. It was an entirely different thing to cross her children.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: First of all, thank you all for your reviews/messages/favorites and follows. It thrills me so many people are enjoying this story! Second of all, sorry for the delay. I like to try to keep frequent updates, but my list of excuses is below:**

**This chapter was hard to write due to the level of emotion in it. I still didn't get it the way I wanted, but it will work. Also, this was the chapter I meant to fix Robin and I still failed. I promise, give me another 3-4 more chapters and we'll all like him again. **

**I got sucked into the EvilCharming fandom. It is a lovely guilty pleasure-I must say! It makes a nice second choice to OutlawQueen.**

**Finally I got a puppy. And it's hard to revise/write when you're yelling "hey stop that! Get back here!"**

Regina kept her temper for promptly another forty-five minutes.

That was long enough to drive home and get Katherine into bed. True to Tink's theory, Katherine had fallen asleep during the short drive home. Regina carried her inside, humming softly to her, relishing in the baby's warm body against hers. She spent a few more minutes rocking the baby, and then tucked her into her crib.

Then she closed the nursery door. Regina cast a soundproofing spell and with a flick of her wrist, sent every painting in the downstairs entryway crashing to the floor.

She was furious. Furious. Absolutely furious. How dare that woman? How _dare_ she?! Marian had no right approaching Regina-or her child-let alone speaking to them. _Let alone_ speaking of Katherine in such a manner.

A flip of her hand sent a vase crashing to the floor.

Regina wanted nothing more than to fry Marian into nothing but a pile of ashes. It would solve at least a couple of her problems.

But it would create as many problems as it would solve. The town would turn on her. Henry would be furious. Katherine would end up alone with Robin, most likely growing up living in the forest running around with a bow and arrow like an Outlaw Snow White. Regina shuddered at the thought. No, killing Marian had never been an option, nor would it be.

Regina was momentarily proud of herself that she finally had something to put over her own vengeance. A year ago, she wouldn't have sworn to it. But now, Henry and Katherine needed her too much to risk anything. Her children made vengeance not worth the risk.

But Marian herself had looked…Regina thought about it. Robin had mentioned she'd been sick. And she did look sick. But not just sick….tired…old even. It was the strangest thing really….

Regina was brought from her thoughts by knocking-no, pounding-on the front door.

"Regina! Let me in! I know you're awake!" Robin's voice called from the other side.

Regina frowned. She yanked open the front door and Robin stormed passed her without waiting for an invitation.

"Can I stay with you tonight?" He dropped a backpack along with his bow and arrows onto the floor.

Regina's face registered her shock. She closed the door, turned around.

"You _left_ her?"

"Well you didn't actually expect me to stay with someone who used _that_ _word _to describe _my _daughter, did you?" He was furious too. He was pacing. The muscles in his jaw were tight. His hands clenched into fists at his side. "For her to use that word…to talk about my daughter…"

His voice trailed off, but his hand slammed against the nearest wall. Rubbing his knuckles, he turned to face Regina.

"I'd apologize, but apparently you felt the same way." He nodded around the hallway. Regina shrugged. The mess was not important right now.

"So you apparently told her."

"Of course I told her. I told you I wouldn't, didn't I?" He shot her an angry glare. "I told her the morning after our conversation." He leaned against an end table, pressing both palms down as he stared into the polished wood.

"I take it that it _that _didn't go well." Regina grumbled, wrapping her arms around her chest.

"It didn't." Robin told the table. "She said it was impossible. Absolutely impossible that someone like me could have gotten close enough to someone like you to conceive a child. Couldn't believe that _you'd _managed to produce something so innocent." His head shook from side to side. "The Marian I knew never would have…she _never_…."

He spun around and faced Regina. There was a look of strangled emotion on his face. He was either trying to keep himself from crying or throwing something.

"Regina, if things had been different….if she'd never….. I would have married you the second we found out you were pregnant."

"I know." Regina whispered. "I know."

A year's worth of pain uncoiled inside of her and broke. Tears well in her eyes and poured out in the same instant, running in rivers down her cheeks.

Robin reached for her. She let him take her into his arms and hold her, her arms wrapping around his neck as she sobbed. His body shook with his own sobs. Regina felt them through her chest. She clung tighter, held him closer. She held his pain, while he held hers, finally sharing it together after so much time.

"Robin." She breathed between sobs. His arms felt so right, so natural, so safe. He stepped back, took her face in his hands.

"We did _nothing _wrong when we conceived Katherine."

"I know." She gasped, swallowing down her tears. His hands stroked her face, traced it. Her hands slid up to hold his. She pressed her palms against his cheeks, taking him in.

"Regina, I loved you so much. I _love_ you so much." His lips fell onto hers, crushing them in a passionate kiss.

Regina gasped against him. This was wrong. They were crossing a line. But she didn't care. All she wanted was to kiss him, feel him, love him. It might be the closest she ever came again.

His hands slid down from her face, across her arms and down to her waist. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her close. He was pushing her against the living room doorway. Regina wrapped her arms around his neck, clung. Her brain was screaming at her to stop. But who cared? Marian was going to villanize her anyway. What did it matter if she gave her one more reason to?"

Robin's right hand moved to cover her left breast. His thumb stroked the nipple through her shirt and bra. She heard herself moan softly against his lips. His erection was pressed between them. He wanted her, she wanted him. And she was going to-.

No, no she wasn't. She wasn't going to add to an already bad situation. So far, she'd done nothing to be ashamed of. If she did this now, if she took advantage of Robin's anger and hurt tonight-. No, this was wrong.

She broke the kiss with a restless twist of her head.

"Robin, we have to stop." She gasped breathlessly.

"No we don't." He sought her mouth again. Regina raised her hands, shoved against his chest.

"Yes, we do. We can't do this."

"Why?" He whispered, pressing his forehead against hers.

"Because you don't want to do this." Regina shoved him harder, took a step away from him. "You're hurt. And you're angry. Tomorrow, you'll regret this."

Robin put his hands behind his head and took a deep breath.

"Why do you have to be right about this?"

"Because you know it's wrong just as much as I do." Regina took a deep breath of her own. Her heart was still pounding in her chest. Stopping had been one of the hardest decisions of her life. Part of her still wanted to continue.

"How is Katherine? Is she ok?" The baby appeared to suddenly seemed to dawn on him. He looked at her with concern in his eyes. Regina nodded.

"She's fine. It didn't faze her."

"Good. That's good." Robin began pacing the entryway. Regina didn't think he could stand still tonight. "This is wrong. It's all wrong."

"I know." Regina ran her fingers through her hair, tugging it out of her face. "If it wasn't for-."

"Regina-."

"No! If it wasn't for Emma Swan, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"You can't just blame Emma."

"Why not?" Regina asked angrily. "Why can't I? If she hadn't undone the past, if she hadn't brought Marian back-."

"We can't just blame Emma." Robin gave her a long, serious look. "She's not entirely at fault."

"Explain to me why not."

"I'm just trying to say, she isn't the only party at fault in this situation." Regina glared at him.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Regina. She wasn't the only one involved in this. We both were. Emma didn't have anything to do with how you and I reacted to the situation."

"You went back to your wife!"

"I had no choice!" He finally exclaimed.

For the first time, Regina saw the frustration on his face. It was something she didn't understand. What exactly did he have to be so frustrated about? He got what he wanted.

"Oh yes, we should all feel terrible for you." Regina turned away from him. "You, who got the woman you adored, back from the dead. You got a the second chance the rest of us only dream about."

"But you can't go back in time." Robin murmured. He had been looking down at the floor, but he finally looked over at her. "You can't go back in time. You can't recreate something. I found that out….the hard way."

"For a man who got that second chance, you don't sound very happy." It was the truth. She had to say it. One of them had to.

"Because this entire bloody town assumed I was going to settle down with my late wife, and go on about my life like nothing had changed. No one realized just how much things had changed! And no one cared to ask."

"And you certainly didn't help anything by trying to talk to someone."

"What was I supposed to say?" Robin sounded exasperated. "Was I supposed to tell everyone that I didn't want to be with my son's mother anymore? That I didn't _want_ that second chance so many people had heard me beg for over the years after Marian's death."

"If it was the truth, it might have helped." Regina frowned at him. Had this entire year gone by just because he couldn't have bothered to bring it up to someone?

"You pushed me away."

"Oh, so now this is my fault?" Regina looked up at him, arched one perfect eyebrow. "It's ok, just say it. I'm quite accustomed to being blamed for things that are not my fault. You aren't the first person and you won't be the last to accuse me of being behind whatever problem you've decided you can't handle."

"I'm didn't say it was your fault." Robin sighed, scrubbing his face with one hand. "It was my fault. Your fault. Emma's fault. Marian's fault. All of us."

"I don't understand how you-."

"You wouldn't talk to me. No calls. No visits. Nothing. And when you found out you were pregnant, you tried to pretend it wasn't my baby."

"But you're _not_ saying it's my fault." Regina rolled her eyes.

"Regina-."

"No. You want to blame me for this? Fine. Fine then. If you were so miserable with Marian, you could have left. You could have spoken up about how miserable you were. You certainly don't seem happy, yet you stayed. Just why _is _that."

"I'm not happy." Robin muttered. "For the first month, I was. I actually believed that we could recreate what we had. And then I realized that you can't go back to something that once was. You can't recreate something you once had." 

"Then _why_ didn't you say something? Or leave?" She asked again.

"Like I said, everyone expected me to be able to resume my life with Marian. Even I thought it was what I wanted-what I had always wanted. And you were pushing me away. I didn't even know if you still cared about me."

"Of course I still cared about you." Regina felt like her eyes were raw from crying, yet they were trying to form more tears. "But when Marian was back, I became the other woman. I was, once again, the Evil Queen ruining someone's life."

"Don't you, and everyone else, think that I should have had a bigger say in the matter?"

"You _did_ have a say in the matter-you just didn't use it. How was everyone supposed to know you wanted a say when you kept playing the happy family game?"

Regina was annoyed. She continued to feel blamed for a situation she'd neither created nor controlled. And she was angry. She was angry with Marian. With Robin. With Emma. She was just angry. She wanted to scream at him. Wanted to scream him out of her life. Maybe taking Katherine back to the Enchanted Forest was becoming a more enticing option if it would get them both the hell away from this mess.

"Regina, you're missing my point."

"Perhaps I am." Regina stared at him. "Care to make it a little more clear?"

"I never got to make a decision on what I wanted. On where I wanted to make my life."

"So now, all of a sudden because Marian made you angry, you've decided you want to be with Katherine and I?"

"Is that so hard to believe?" He took a step towards her. Regina took a step back.

"Yes, _because_ you're angry. I think about the way you talked to me about Marian, about how much you loved her. That type of love doesn't die. And I'm sure it wasn't all bad with Marian in the last few months. Tomorrow, when you're no longer angry, you'll want to go right back to Marian and Roland."

"It wasn't all bad." Robin agreed. He took a deep breath, his shoulders falling heavily. "It was good for awhile. But I could never stop thinking about you. And when I found out you were pregnant, it was worse. I was so worried about you, worried about the baby, worried that something would happen to one of you…" He trailed off, shook his head. "Regina, you're all I've wanted for so long now."

Fresh tears sprang to her eyes. Regina wrapped an arm around her stomach. She wanted to curl up, to protect herself, to ward him off. She didn't want him to love her. She didn't want him to say these things. If he didn't, it was so much easier to protect herself.

He seemed to sense it. He was in front of her, one hand resting against her cheek.

"Regina, I can see it all over you. Why are you hiding from this?"

"Because I can't just give into this." Regina whispered, raising her hand to push his away. "I can't just pretend to be happy tonight knowing that I'll be crushed when you decide six months from now that you've never been happy with me and all you want is Marian!"

"That won't happen."

"You can't promise that!" Regina exclaimed. "You can't! A year ago, would you have promised Marian the same thing?! _Did_ you promise her? You never thought you would have ended up here. Two years ago, if someone had given you this chance, you would have thought it would have been the answer to your dreams."

"Regina, I had moved on. I had buried Marian. I had grieved for her, and I had accepted her death and moved on. I had moved on with you."

"What does it-?"

"Would you let me finish!?" He gasped. His face was frustrated. Regina frowned, but she shut up.

"I can't just turn feelings on and off. It was wrong of me to pretend I could just pick up with Marian like none of those things had happened."

The look on her face apparently didn't help. Robin shook his head. His jaw set.

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to stop saying what you think I want to hear, and I want you to listen to yourself." Regina finally reached out to take his hand. "You're not saying that I'm all you want. You're saying you never got to make a decision about what you want."

"Maybe I am." Robin looked down at the floor. "Maybe I am confused." He finally looked back up at her. "Things are such a mess."

"How to we fix them?" Regina whispered the words as she leaned back against the wall. He was right-things were a mess. And no matter what the outcome, they had to resolve them. Things could not remain uncomfortable, or tense. If Marian stayed involved, that had to be fixed too. Regina couldn't keep denying how expansive Katherine's family was at the moment.

"You keep saying you couldn't go back in time with Marian. You and I can't go back in time either. There's no guarantee we could capture what we once had."

"Unless you believe pixie dust." Robin gave her a faint smile.

"Stop." Regina warned him, rewarding his smile with a firm glare. "We can't even talk like that right now."

"Then what are you proposing?" Robin's tone of voice told her he was getting annoying. She needed to make her point-and quickly.

"I'm proposing that you take some time away from both of us." Regina took a deep breath. "Not from your children, that's not what I'm saying, but you can't try to have relationships with Marian and I. You need to sort out your own emotions. Maybe finally make the decision you claim everyone else made for you."

Robin stared off into nothing for a long moment. His face was expressionless for the first time of the night.

"I know you well enough to know why you push me away. I know why you push everyone away."

"Why's that?"

"Because you're afraid of being hurt." Robin looked back at her, and she hated the tender sparkle that was gleaming in his eyes.

"What do you expect me to do? Sit here and gladly wait to see if you chose me?" Robin shook his head.

"The last thing that I ever want to do, is hurt you. So what I'm going to do, first thing tomorrow, is get a room at Granny's. And I'm going to take your advice, and take some time for myself. But that doesn't mean you and I should not try to be friends. We're always going to be Katherine's parents. We have to at least be friends for her sake."

"That's fair." Regina felt the tension in the room go down. Maybe, just maybe, they were finally on the road to fixing things. It would not necessarily be immediate, but they could finally be putting themselves on a path to have a real relationship-even if it was just the relationship of two parents trying to share a child.

"You know, we should have had this conversation nine months ago." Robin gave her a half smile. Regina chuckled softly.

"Well, I didn't find out I was pregnant until I was four months along. So technically we only needed to have this conversation seven months ago."

They shared another laugh.

"Can I still stay here tonight?" Robin asked. Regina nodded.

"Yes, you can stay. But don't even think you're sleeping in my bedroom. And you're going to keep your hands to yourself."

"Don't worry." Robin held up his hands. "I'll behave."

"Good." Regina smiled as Robin picked up his things.

Just then, she heard the whimpers from the baby monitor. Regina knew those cries. Katherine would put herself back to sleep. She was better at that now. There was no need to rush.

Robin instantly looked at the monitor and then started up the stairs.

"She'll be fine." Regina told him. "She'll fall back asleep soon."

But Robin was already most of the way upstairs. Regina followed him. He deposited his things in the doorway of the spare room and then went to Katherine's nursery. Regina remained in the doorway as she watched him scoop Katherine out of her crib.

"It's all right, darling. Daddy's here. Daddy will always be here to protect you."

**A/N: Next chapter things start to get interesting. Thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Extremely short chapter. But I wanted to do this so I could get a few hints dropped at what is coming in the next couple of chapters. I hope you all aren't too disappointed.**

Regina was in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and drinking a cup of coffee. At the table, Robin was drinking from his own mug and holding Katherine on his lap with his free arm.

Regina was rubbing her temples, hoping the caffeine kicked in soon, when there was a knock on the door. Robin glanced over at her.

"Expecting anyone?" Regina put her mug down, shook her head.

"Not at all. No, you stay." She motioned to Robin to stay seated when he tried to get up. "You've got your hands full."

In the foyer, Regina opened the door and instantly took a step back.

Marian stood on the other side of the door.

But it wasn't just the fact that she was here. It was her appearance. Now, closer, not in a fit of rage, Regina could see just how bad the other woman looked. Lines running through the skin of her face, dark circles under her eyes, gray streaks running through her dark hair; the entire thing was a strange picture.

"Marian?" Regina's tone expressed her confusion in one word.

"Is Robin here?" The other woman asked. Regina saw now there was fear in her eyes and face. Was it just the idea of facing the Evil Queen? Or something more? Regina had a strange feeling about this. "It's the only place I thought he might have gone…"

"Marian?" Robin appeared in the doorway behind Regina. "What's happened?"

He was putting Katherine into Regina's arms and stepping forward, reaching for Marian. Was this something he was accustomed to? Or was Marian's state a shock to him too?

"It's so much worse today." Marian told him, squeezing his hands. "I woke up and it's much worse."

"What's she talking about?" Regina looked from Robin to Marian.

"We don't know." Robin muttered.

"Did you take her to the hospital?"

"No. We kept thinking it would pass. And-." Robin shrugged. "What do we know about modern medicine anyway?"

"Robin, you need to get her to a hospital." Regina was looking at Marian, shaking her head. "Something is wrong with her."

Robin glanced from Regina to Marian, frowned and then nodded. He gathered Marian into his arms.

"I'll let you know." Regina nodded.

"Go." She waited until they were gone with the door closed behind them. Then she hurried upstairs to begin gathering Katherine's things.

Charming opened the door and let her in. Emma and-surprisingly enough Hook-were sitting at the kitchen table.

"Regina?" Snow was coming out of the bedroom with Neal. "What's wrong?"

"Something's wrong with Marian." Regina told them, putting Katherine's bag down on the sofa.

"And you care…?" Hook asked, raising his eyebrows suspiciously. Regina waved the question away.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"He's here to see me. Now what's going on with Marian?" Emma brought her back on topic.

She told them as best she knew-leaving out her discussion with Robin the night before. Everyone's expression changed. But it was Hook who Regina was watching with the most curiosity. His expression told that he was thinking hard about something.

"You have something you'd like to add?" Regina asked him directly. Hook looked at her and shook his head slowly.

"Not quite yet, love." Emma looked at him as well.

"Do you know something about what could be wrong?"

"I…." Hook hesitated. "I might have an idea. But it's too soon. Not enough information. Don't want to speculate."

"Speculating won't hurt right now." Emma told him, her expression indicating that she was ready to hear his thoughts. But Hook held firm.

"Let's see what the doctors come up with. Then we'll discuss my theory. Use it as a last resort, so to say."

"We have to do something." Regina was pacing, bouncing Katherine lightly in her arms.

"Perhaps you should try staying out of it?" Hook suggested.

"The way you two stayed out of it when you brought her back here in the first place?" Regina glared at him. "Hardly."

"I tried to tell her that it was not a good idea." Hook gestured in Emma's direction.

"So you're blaming me now?" Emma immediately turned on Hook.

"All right, enough, all three of you." Snow handed Neal over to Charming. "Regina, maybe Hook's right and it is best for you to stay out."

Regina was silent for a moment. Katherine pulled her mother's hair idly. Regina detangled one fist and looked back at Snow.

"I can't."

"Why not?" Charming asked. "It's not exactly your place." Snow laid her hand on his arm.

"Why don't you two stay here with Hook and the kids? Regina and I will go to the hospital, check things out."

"I'll go." Emma was getting up from the table.

"Meet us there." Snow gave her a look. "I'll go with Regina."

Regina suspected she knew why. Snow was going to want to talk. They all knew that Snow was the only one in the room who had a chance of getting Regina to talk to her. And part of her was glad. Part of her did want to talk about it.

"You stay here." Regina said as Charming put Neal on the floor and took Katherine from her. "I trust you with my daughter more than him." She motioned irritably towards Hook.

"So are you going to tell me why this is so important to you?" Snow was sitting in the passenger seat of Regina's car. Regina was staring blankly out the windshield, her hands limply on the wheel of the unmoving vehicle.

"I guess." Regina shrugged.

"I thought you might." Snow looked over at her. "So tell me, why is it so important for you to help Marian?"

"Because I'm responsible for her death once already." Regina murmured, still staring out the windows. "And-."

"And you feel guilty. So you want to make it up." Regina thought and considered before she spoke. She was guilty-and it was the one thing she'd made sure not to mention to Robin in the last few weeks.

"It's not just that it's Marian. It's…." She shrugged, trailing off.

"You know," Snow began hesitantly, "I know you won't want to hear this, especially from me….but there _are_ other men out there. I know Robin is Katherine's father. I know you loved him. But maybe, Regina, you should just let him go. It's not good for you to put yourself what you have for the last year."

Regina shook her head.

"It's not that simple."

"Tell me why."

So she did. The entire story of pixie dust, and taverns, and tattoos, and soul mates poured out of her. By the time she was finished, Snow was staring at her opened mouth.

"I had no idea."

"No, you didn't. And now you're only the fourth person to know. So let's keep it that way."

"So you're willing to do this? You're willing to do something to help Robin even if it means bringing him and Marian back together?"

Regina frowned and stared at her fingernails.

"What if…when I didn't go into that tavern, I lost my chance with him forever and now I'm paying that price? That what happened in the last year was just a fluke. That Marian returning was what was supposed to happen because _she's_ his true love. I forfeited my chance as his true love when I didn't go into the tavern."

"True love doesn't work like that. And you know as well as I do that pixie dust doesn't lie."

"But Tinkerbell told me that I didn't just ruin my life, I ruined his as well. Which I did-I took away the love of his life, destroyed his family."

Snow reached over and took Regina's hand off of the wheel. She squeezed it tightly.

"What you're doing sounds like true love to me." Regina didn't look at her, just kept her gaze out the window.

"Maybe it is. Either way, I owe it to him to help."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Snow tightened her grip on her hand.

"Yes." Regina forced herself to say it and believe it. She was going to do this. She needed to do something. For Robin's sake. For Roland's. "Yes. Let's go."

"Ok." Snow let go of Regina's hand. "Let's go. You're driving."

**A/N: Love love love all your reviews! I want to know what you all think. Also, I'm caving and going to start working on an EvilCharming fic…if that's a ship you enjoy look for it soon. **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hello and thank you for continuing to read this story! I'm posting chapters 12 and 13 for two reasons. One I just want to knock out this section w/ Marian and get us through it, and two because I'm going to be out of commission for a few weeks and I'm not sure how frequent updates will be.**

"We don't know what's wrong." Dr. Whale told her. "None of the doctors can tell what's wrong with her."

"Do you think it's something contagious?" Snow asked beside Regina. Whale frowned, shrugged. Regina turned to stare at her. There was a look of annoyance and disgust on her face.

"_That's_ your question?" Whale ignored her and kept his focus on Snow.

"Do I think the town is in danger? Most likely not."

"Most likely?" That caught Regina's attention. "So you don't know what's wrong with her…but you don't _think_ it's serious?"

"We haven't made an official diagnosis, so we don't know what's wrong. And really, that's the most I can tell you."

"But-."

"Regina, I mean it. I've said too much already. I don't care if you're the mayor, the queen, whatever card you're playing today won't work." He started to turn away when a voice called from down the hall.

"_He _may know." Emma was coming towards them with Hook behind her. Regina frowned at them, folding her arms over her chest.

"I thought the great pirate wasn't ready to talk."

"He's going to tell us." Emma looked at Hook. "Aren't you?"

"Don't have much choice, do I?" Hook signed, turning his eyes towards the ceiling.

"_Do_ you know something?" Whale pushed past Regina and Snow. "Because anything you could tell us could be a huge help."

"I've never actually seen this happen," Hook warned them, "so I'm not certain this is actually the case. But I've heard it can happen. There are rumors-stories-in our land that tell of it." He looked over at Regina. "I'm surprised her Majesty hasn't heard of it."

"What are you-?" Regina began but Whale shook his head.

"Ok….." Whale looked at him expectantly, nodding for him to continue.

"One of the…stories…. About time travel is that the body wasn't made to time leap-be it forward or backwards." Hook explained, glancing from face to face. "So if someone moves in time, it changes their body."

"Wait…" Regina was beginning to catch on. A bell was going off in her head. This was familiar. Hook nodded.

"Marian is from the past, her body was meant to stay in the past. Therefore, time is speeding up for her. Her body is trying to catch up with its new time. It's moving too fast…aging her."

"Wait," Snow held up her hand. She turned to Regina. "How come that didn't happen to us in the curse?"

"Because we traveled from present day Enchanted Forest to present day….here." Regina motioned around them. "Plus, the curse froze time in the Enchanted Forest. Time didn't start moving for us until the curse was broken, and it's moving at the same speed in the Enchanted Forest."

"So there's no risk for us." Hook finished for her.

For a moment, the crowd seemed to be silent. Then Snow spoke up again.

"So what do we do?"

"Far as I know, nothing." Hook looked around. "I mean, we could attempt another time travel spell, return her to the past, but there's not guarantee that will work. This….ringing any bells, your Majesty?"

She'd never even thought about it. She'd heard about problems with time travel, but the biggest issue was that time travel didn't work because no one was powerful enough to do it. Except Zelena.

"I….can't say for sure. Not without further research."

"So wait," Emma looked at Hook, "have you known this could happen all along?" Hook looked uncomfortable with the question.

"I knew it was a possibility. But what do I know about magic time travel spells?"

"It might not have happened so quickly…." Regina thought out loud, "But if Zelena was powerful enough to do it, coming through a portal effected by her magic might have made things worse."

"Seriously?" Emma asked, her wide blue eyes concerned. Regina looked over at her, nodded.

"Hook's right. I never thought about it before, but unfortunately he's onto something."

"And you never once, in the last year, thought to mention this to me?" Dr. Whale finally spoke up. "Or Marian? Or Robin?"

"Well let's face it, the thief never would have listened to me." Hook smiled. "Doubting many of you would have, actually."

"So we didn't actually save her." Emma was staring off down the hallway, a dejected look crossing her face. "We just bought her another year."

"Yes, another year that interfered with everyone else's life." Regina shot towards her. "So thank you for making this situation successfully worse."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Emma was ignoring Regina to focus on Hook. "Why didn't you tell me she was just going to die here anyway?"

"Well, for one, I did tell you it was a bad idea. I did tell you bad things could happen from changing the past." He reminded her. "But you were having none of that. And in second point, I didn't think of that at the time. It was only when I found out Marian hadn't been well that I began to suspect the rumors about time travel are true."

"Ok, that's it. I think we've discussed this enough." Dr. Whale held up his hands. "As much as I appreciate the help, this is not a subject that any of you are involved in. Now I think it would be best if all of you just stepped back, and got out of here."

"But-." Snow stared at him.

"Unless one of you," he looked at Regina, "can come up with a magical remedy to stop this, there's unfortunately nothing I can do."

"We'll look." Regina offered. It was the only suggestion she could offer. She didn't know what to do herself. And she was kicking herself for not considering this sooner. Of course she'd heard this story about time travel. But time travel never worked, so no one thought or researched the effects of it. And with her pregnancy and then the baby, analyzing Marian's condition hadn't been at the top of her priorities.

"What's going on?" The group turned to see Robin standing behind them.

"Get out." Whale looked at the four. "It's my place to tell him, not any of yours. Get out."

Regina opened her mouth to say something, but immediately closed it after the look on Robin's face. She had never seen such grief on his face, on anyone's face. And that hurt. A lot.

She was seated on the couch in the Charmings' living room. Katherine was asleep in the crook of her right arm. She'd been crying when Regina returned. Apparently Prince Charming did not have that desired effect on Katherine. A book of magic was in her left hand. It was not exactly helping the situation.

Emma was seated in a chair on the other side of the room, another book of magic in her hands. She glanced up, towards Regina.

"Anything?" Regina shook her head slowly.

"Nothing. Not a thing. Well, I should rephrase…nothing we didn't already know. As unfortunate as it may be, it appears Hook was right." Regina raised her eyes and glanced at the pirate where he sat to Emma's left.

"It is an unfortunate situation." Hook agreed, with a surprisingly sympathetic tone to his voice.

"Actually, I meant the unfortunate part in regards to your being right." Regina said, glancing down at Katherine.

Emma snapped her book shut, tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and blew out a deep breath. "Just makes me-."

"Makes you what?" Regina turned the page in her book without looking up. "Regret interfering in the past? Want to go back and try again? Decide that you can do it right this time and you really can save her? Because that's your thing, Miss Swan?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that I didn't know what was going to happen-."

"And didn't _think_ about what _might_ happen." Regina snapped back, finally looking up.

"Ok, both of you!" Snow got up from where she'd been sitting at the table, crossing the room to join them. "This is not helping. Emma, you couldn't save Marian. You tried, and that's respectable, but you couldn't do it. And Regina, she didn't know what she was doing, and it wasn't intentional against you. But to be fair, Robin's the one who left you _for _Marian. Maybe your anger is just a little displaced in this one."

Regina would never, in a million years, admit that Snow was right. Instead, she closed her book and stood up. Crossing the room, she handed Katherine to Snow and then grabbed Emma's book from her lap.

"I'll be back in a few minutes."

"What now?" Dr. Whale looked weary when he saw her. "You're not helping, Regina. You're interfering." Regina rolled her eyes at him and held out the two books she was carrying.

"I brought you these. They have chapters on time travel. I thought they might help." Whale took them, but suddenly his expression looked grim.

"I found a book too. It had information as well."

"Anything useful?" Regina asked carefully. Whale glanced around the hallways, frowned, and motioned Regina to follow him.

She followed him down the hallway to his office. Once inside, he closed the door. A book was already out on his desk. He flipped through it, handed it to her.

"Here." He pointed to a paragraph. "Read that."

Regina did. As she did, her eyes widened and a frown settled firmly over her lips. She looked up at Whale while handing him back the book.

"What do you think?" Whale slipped a bookmark into the page of the book, closed it and replaced it on a shelf before responding to her.

"I think we better hope that Marian didn't bring anything else through that portal. For everyone's sake."

She was just going to check on him, Regina convinced herself. While she was here, she was going to make sure Robin was ok. It was just the right thing to do, as a friend would do for anyone. He had a sick wife, his son was about to lose his mother. She just had to stop in and check that he was holding up all right.

But when she reached the doorway, and she saw the scene before her, there was no going in for any reason. Robin sat beside the bed with Roland curled on his lap. One of his hands held Marian's, and his eyes were glued to her face.

Regina took a step back from the doorway, not noticing the tears that were forming in her eyes, when he spoke. His tone was so low, she almost missed it.

"I'm so sorry, Marian. I'll never love anyone like I loved you."

Regina left the hospital that night knowing that no matter what, she would never truly hold Robin's heart.


	13. Chapter 13

Darkness hadn't quite worn off the morning yet when Regina's phone rang. She was still in her pajamas. Katherine had finished her bottle and settled into her swing to sleep for a quick morning nap.

"Hello?" No one was calling this early without a reason.

"It's over." Snow said.

"What is?" Regina asked, walking into the kitchen.

"David went out to get coffee early this morning, and he ran into Whale at the store. Marian's dead."

Regina wasn't sure she cared. She'd done a lot of thinking over the last two days earlier. She felt bad for Robin and Roland, but there was no hope or longing left in her anymore.

"Regina?" Snow asked. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah….yes…I'm here." Regina snapped a K-cup into the Kuerig and filled it with water. "What do you want me to say?"

Now it was Snow's turn to be quiet.

"I….just thought you'd want to know."

"I did. Thank you." Regina pressed a button on the machine. She heard the gurgling of it starting up.

"Are you going to go to the funeral?"

"No." Her answer was immediate. It appeared to have startled Snow. "Do you think I should?" She suddenly thought to question.

"I….guess you could." Snow shrugged. "I mean, as a friend, as a part of this town, it would be good."

"It would also be incredibly awkward." Regina responded, pulling her now full cup off of the coffee maker. "What grieving widower doesn't want his ex girlfriend and mother of his child at his wife's funeral?"

"You're making it sound worse when you say it like that."

"It is what it is, Snow. I'm not going. That's that."

She didn't go, but Snow and Charming came over after the funeral a day later.

"You've been cooped up in this house for four days now." Snow had intercepted Katherine as soon as she'd come through the door. "Everything all right?"

"I didn't realize my social life was such an issue for everyone. I'm beginning to miss the days with no one cared where I was or how I spent my time."

"I'll take that as a no." Snow nuzzled Katherine's forehead. "She's so big, Regina. How is she getting so big?"

"I don't know." Regina smiled genuinely and shook her head. "So how was the service?"

"As far as funeral's go, I guess it was fine." David was sitting in one of the living room chairs. "Roland was obviously pretty upset."

"Obviously." Regina nodded. "It's a shame. That's got to be hard on such a little boy."

"You don't want to know how Robin is?"

"I don't want to know how Robin is." Regina dropped a handful of Katherine's toys into a basket to try and declutter the room. It wasn't that Katherine necessarily played with her toys-she was still too young for that. But Regina enjoyed having the toys out to catch Katherine's attention and get her interested in them. Regina was beginning to plan a room she could turn into a playroom. How hard could it be to move the study upstairs and change the current one into a playroom?

"You didn't do something crazy, did you?" Snow asked suspiciously. Regina frowned and dropped a plastic toy dog into the basket. The dog's collar lit up and it made a high pitched whining sound.

"You want to define "something crazy"?"

"I just…. This is so…."

"What do you want me to say?" Regina asked. "That I'm glad Marian's dead? That I'm about to head off and throw myself and Katherine into Robin's arms? Hardly. I feel bad that Marian is dead for Robin and Roland's sake, but that's it. Otherwise, I don't care. As far as not having done something crazy, I've been here the last three days playing with my daughter. I haven't done anything except pick up toys and do laundry. Happy?"

Snow and Charming looked at each other. Charming shrugged at his wife. Neither of them seemed to know what to make of the situation.

"Obviously our conversation had little impact on you after all." Snow sighed, rubbing Katherine's back.

"Put it out of my mind, dear." Regina dropped down onto the couch. "I'm done with this, Snow. All of it. Katherine and Henry are officially my only focuses now."

Snow didn't say anything. Regina took the opportunity to remind her of something else.

"Aren't you the one who said Robin did leave me for Marian?" Snow looked up at her, opened her mouth to speak but Regina shook her head no. "I'm tired of this, Snow."

"I was just going to say," Snow sighed heavily, looked down at Katherine, "that I just don't want to see you get hurt again. No one does."

"Regina?" Tinkerbell looked surprised to see her. "What are you doing here?"

"I only have a minute. May I come in?" Tinkerbell nodded and stepped aside for Regina to enter the room the fairy was staying in at Granny's2.

"How are you? I haven't seen you in a few days and you didn't return any of my calls. I was worried about you."

"I'm sorry." Regina apologized-and meant it. She was surprised how much concern there had been for her over the last week. Apparently now, if Regina decided to become a recluse people noticed-and cared. "I just needed some time alone."

"Are you ok?" The fairy questioned, concern showing in her eye. Regina nodded and gave her a strong smile.

"I'm fine. I just came here to thank you."

"Oh?" Regina heard the excitement in the other woman's voice and saw Tinkerbell's face light up. "Regina, does that mean-?" Regina held up her hand to stop Tink from speaking.

"If it wasn't for what you told me, I never would have given Robin a chance."

"So you two-?" Tinkerbell was practically beaming now.

"No." Regina shook her head. "I am done with that particular chapter of my life."

Tinkerbell's face fell. She frowned, shaking her head.

"Regina, when are you going to learn-."

"It doesn't matter." Regina shook her head firmly. "I had a chance once with Robin, and I lost it. We could have been happy together, I realize that now. And even though I lost him again we still had something good. And now I have Katherine because of it."

Tinkerbell sighed and covered her face with her hands. She sighed heavily in exhaustion or frustration Regina wasn't really sure.

"Regina, he is your-."

"Stop." Regina told her. "I'm not upset about it. I'm not sad. I'm ok with how things worked out between us because now I have Katherine. She was the best thing that ever came out of that relationship."

"I'm happy for you." Tinkerbell sounded sad. "I'm happy for you if you've come to happiness on your own, but I wish you'd stay open to a possibility with Robin."

"I won't." Regina smiled. "But I am happy now."

"Your Majesty." Little John met her first, motioning over his shoulder to Robin who was crossing to join them.

"Little John." Regina folded her arms over her chest. She wasn't that interested in having a conversation with him. She wanted to talk to Robin and get out of here.

"Go on." Robin nodded to Little John. "Keep an eye on Roland."

Once Little John was gone, Robin turned to face her.

"Regina, I'm sorry. I've been meaning to come over, but this week has been-." Regina held up her hand and shook her head.

"Stop. Just let me talk, ok?"

"It's just-. I haven't meant to ignore you and Katherine. With Marian dying-."

"Robin, stop." Regina sighed. "Please. Let me." Robin nodded.

"I'm sorry." Which part he was sorry for, Regina didn't know and didn't care. She was going to say what she came here to say.

"I just wanted to tell you that I've been thinking-a lot-and I don't want you to be concerned about me."

"I'm not sure I'm-."

"I'm not expecting anything from you, Robin. And I don't think I want anything anymore. Katherine and I aren't some sort of consolation prize because you can't have her, and your family with her. I won't do that to her, or to myself." Robin took a deep breath, and Regina saw deep sadness in his eyes.

"Where is this coming from?"

"Doesn't matter." Regina shook her head. "It's over between us, it has been for a long time now. I'm not going to keep you from Katherine, that's not fair to either of you. But I don't want there to be any misunderstandings between us. We just need to be parents to our daughter."

She stared at him for a moment. Robin held her gaze.

"Can I talk now?" Regina rolled her eyes.

"Of course." Robin sighed heavily and pressed a hand to his temple.

"Over the past year, I have gotten extremely tired of your seemingly endless lectures on how everyone gets to play by the rules you have established with regard to what you and only you want. I get it-that's how you live your life, and you assume everyone else will go along with it."

Regina glared at him and opened her mouth. Robin shook his head.

"Wait."

Regina frowned but closed her mouth.

"But in this case, I can't deny that the idea of not having the guilt that I'm continually hurting you hanging over my head seems….refreshing."

Regina closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steady her nerves.

"I'm not going along with this just because I want to be another pawn in your game to get what you want, I'm doing it because I can't possibly handle anything else right now. Roland is heartbroken because he just lost his mother-again. I'm now faced with the struggle of getting past my own loss-again-and getting him past his. I can't promise you anything right now, Regina. And I don't know when, or if, I'll ever be able to."

"I understand." Regina nodded. "It's partially why I'm here. I can't do this to myself anymore. I can't keep dreaming, hoping, that something will change between us. I can't put myself through it anymore. And I won't be a reasonable second choice because you can't have Marian. I'm no one's second choice."

Robin chuckled. He gave her a faint smile.

"You are certainly not that. And you deserve better than what I can give you right now."

"So we understand each other?" Regina asked cautiously. "Nothing else needs to be said?"

"No, we are on the same page." Robin assured her. "Can I come and see Katherine tomorrow? I don't want to lose what I've reached with her."

"Come when you want." Regina agreed. "Bring Roland, if you want. We don't have to tell him anything. Maybe some day, we will."

"Some day, when he doesn't have to come to terms with his mother's death for the second time." Robin bit his lip, gazing deeper into the woods. "A new baby sister is too much for him right now."

"Agreed." Regina looked towards the camp. "How is he?"

"Not sleeping, barely eating, cries frequently. I'm going to go with in general, not well."

"Poor thing." Regina felt for the boy. She wished there was more she could do for him. "The distraction might do him well."

"It might. I'll bring him. So be prepared for a five year old too." Regina laughed.

"All right. Then I will see you two tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." Robin gave her another smile that was faintly too apologetic for her liking. He turned and went back into the camp.

Regina turned on her heel and headed back towards town. She wanted to be sad, wanted to feel bad about what she had just given up on, but she didn't. She was relieved. She had finally made a conscious effort to put herself past her pain. She wondered if she'd done it years ago if things would have turned out differently for her. It didn't matter now. She was focusing on her children now.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her phone and dialed Henry's number.

**A/N: I could end this story here…but that wouldn't be fair. I'm going to stick to my original plan and move forward with it. Don't hate me if I start sucking on updates in the near future. I promise to finish this one! Reviews/thoughts/comments are always appreciated!**


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